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their length this plant varies greatly. There is a beautiful form with 
pure white flowers (var. alha) which is becoming common in this coun- 
try, another with flowers which are pure pink or white more or less 
tinged with pink (var. rosea), and another with leaves blotched with 
yellow (var. variegata). There is also a double-flowered form (var. vio- 
lacea plena) which was first sent to this country in 1862 and first flow- 
ered here in the garden of Francis Parkman at Jamaica Plain. For- 
tunately this form blooms very rarely, for the flowers are ugly, some- 
thing which cannot be said of any other Wisteria. Although the Jap- 
anese Wisteria is usually called W. multij-uga in gardens, the oldest 
and correct name for it is W. florihunda. 
Early-flowering Diervillas or Weigelas. The earliest of these plants 
to flower in the Arboretum, and perhaps the handsomest of all the 
species, varieties and hybrids of Diervilla known in gardens, is the 
Korean form of D. jlorida discovered and introduced by Mr. Jack to 
which the varietal name venusta has been given. It is already a shrub 
here five feet tall and three or four feet through, and every spring is 
completely covered with dense clusters of rosy-pink flowers from an 
inch and a half to two inches in length. It is perfectly hardy, which 
cannot be said of all the garden Weigelas; it grows rapidly, and no 
shrub can bear larger crops of flowers. There is a plant now in full 
bloom on Hickory Path near the Pecan tree, and another in the Shrub 
Collection at the end of the Diervilla Collection near the Cherry-trees. 
Diervilla praecox. This name has been given to an early-flowering 
plant which has been sent from Japan to Europe but is not a native 
of Japan and is not known in its wild state, although it is probably a 
form of Diervilla Jlorida from northern China. In the hands of Le- 
moine, the French hybridizer, a number of beautiful hybrids or varie- 
ties have been produced and are now in flower in the Shrub Collection. 
Among the handsomest of these are Seduction with red flowers, Esper- 
ance with pink flowers, Avant Garde with pale rose flowers, Vestale 
with white flowers, Gracieux with pink and white flowers, Floreal with 
rose-colored flowers, Conquerant with rose-colored flowers, and Fleur 
de Mai with pink flowers. These are less known but hardier and better 
garden plants here than many of the hybrid Weigelas more commonly 
cultivated. 
Rosa Hugonis. Judging by its appearance this year, no plant sent 
from China to our northern gardens equals this Rose in grace and 
beauty. The long gracefully arching branches are so thickly covered 
with flowers from end to end that the petals touch and make a con- 
tinuous band of pale yellow. The individual flowers are about two and 
a half inches in diameter and have a delicate perfume; the leaves are 
small and pale green. It is a hardy and fast-growing shrub, and 
has every appearance of becoming a large plant. Perhaps no other 
single-flowered Rose is so beautiful, although the Cherokee Rose, an- 
other Chinese Rose {R. laevigata) naturalized in the southern states, 
has handsomer foliage and larger flowers, but the flowers of the Chero- 
kee Rose are white and are not produced in such profusion, and in the 
north the Cherokee Rose can only be grown under glass. Rosa Hugonis 
and R. omeiensis, a tall-growing, white-flowered species from Western 
China, are the earliest Roses to flower in the Arboretum this year. 
