60 
The group of American Magnolias is between the Jamaica Plain en- 
trance and the Arboretum building. 
Two American Viburnums. V. Lentago and V. prunifolium are even 
more beautiful now with their large brightly colored leaves and droop- 
ing clusters of large, dark blue fruit than they were late in the spring 
when they were covered with broad clusters of small, creamy white 
flowers. These are common eastern American plants and are shrubs 
or small trees, and there are no better subjects for the decoration of 
woods or forest glades. V. Lentago is the more round-topped plant of 
the two, with larger leaves and larger clusters of flowers, while V. 
prunifolium which naturally does not grow north of southwestern Con- 
necticut, has more spreading branches, smaller clusters of whiter flow- 
ers and narrower leaves of a deeper red at this season of the year. 
These two Viburnums have been largely used in the Arboretum bor- 
der-plantations which owe much beauty to them. The decorative value 
of these plants is now recognized and it is possible to find them in 
several 'American nurseries. 
Ligustrum vulgare. Attention has often been called in these Bul- 
letins to the value of the common European Privet, Ligustrum vul- 
gare. In recent years much attention has been paid by botanists and 
gardeners to the Privets of eastern Asia, where many species have been 
discovered. None of these, however, are as valuable in this climate as 
the European species which is perhaps the handsomest of all hardy, 
black-fruited shrubs. The bright shining fruit is borne in compact 
clusters which stand up well on the ends of the branches above the dark 
green lustrous leaves and remain on the plants during the early winter 
months and after the dark green leaves have fallen. Formerly this 
was a common garden plant in the northern states and it is now spar- 
ingly naturalized in some parts of the country. There is a form with 
yellow fruit which is much less beautiful than the type. There is a 
variety foliolosa in the collection which has rather narrower leaves and 
larger fruit. This shrub, although apparently still little known in our 
gardens, is one of the handsomest of all shrubs here at this season of 
the year. The specimen in the Shrub Collection is now covered with 
its large and brilliant fruits, and is well worth a visit by any one inter- 
ested in the autumn decoration of gardens. 
Abelia grandiflora on Hickory Path near Centre Street is still well 
covered with flowers. These resemble in shape the flowers of some of 
the Honeysuckles; they are white faintly tinged with rose color, and 
their delicate beauty is set off by the small dark green and lustrous 
leaves. Abelia grandiflora is a slender shrub with arching stems from 
three to four feet high, and is thought to be a hybrid between two 
Chinese species. Until the introduction by the Arboretum of some of 
the species of this genus from western China it was believed to be 
the hardiest of the Abelias. In the Arboretum it suffers in severe 
winters; but in sheltered positions it flowers well every year and the 
flowers continue to open during nearly two months. This Abelia has 
become an exceedingly popular plant in the gardens of the southern 
states and is cultivated with more or less success as far north as New 
York. 
