Complimentary 
NEW SERIES VOL III 
NO. 14 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
BULLETIN 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. JULY 21. 1917 
Summer-flowering Trees. Several trees flower in summer here and 
add to the interest of the Arboretum at a season of the year when 
there are comparatively few flowers or ripe fruits to be seen. The 
most important of these trees are the Lindens, a genus of many 
species, the earliest of which begins to bloom about the middle of 
June and the last five or six weeks later. In the Bulletins published 
on June 10, 1910, and on July 6th of last year a detailed account of 
these trees appeared to which persons interested in them are referred; 
and it is only necessary, perhaps, to say now that Lindens grow best 
in damp, moist, well-drained soil, and that the European species take 
more kindly to cultivation in this part of the country than the Ameri- 
can or Asiatic species, the handsomest Linden trees planted in the 
neighborhood of Boston being forms of the natural European hybrid 
to which the name Tilia vulgaris belongs. There is a large collection 
of Lindens in the Arboretum arranged in the meadow on the right- 
hand side of the Meadow Road in which can now be seen specimens 
of most of the species and of several forms and varieties, many of 
the trees being now large enough to flower. The fact that, with the 
exception of Tilia japonica which is the first Linden here to unfold 
its leaves, none of the Asiatic Lindens now promise to be large or 
useful trees in this climate is surprising for the trees of eastern Asia 
usually flourish here, and as a rule are better able to adapt themselves 
to New England conditions than allied European trees. It is always 
possible, however, that by crossing some of the Asiatic species with 
the European species new and valuable forms may be obtained, for 
hybrids between American and European Lindens, like Tilia spectabi- 
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