298 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
now, and these species are much too 
interesting and valuable to let alone for 
the present. iMy recommendation is that 
would-be growers, if they have the 
ground necessary, do not undertake to 
be content with one species alone, but 
grow as many as they can afford to, 
scattering them about, or growing the 
various species in a mass, due allowance 
being made for the diverse heights to 
which the different species grow. In no 
case will all species flower at the same 
time, but there will be a succession of 
bloom for some weeks. It should be 
noticed that these species are not only 
ornamental, but also form excellent food 
for the birds, while some have excellent 
fruit for human consumption. 
AVith this, by way of introduction, I 
now proceed to describe some of the 
species. I will say, before proceeding 
farther, that the late Dr. Asa Gray, in 
his usual desire to simplify botany, by 
seeking to have as few species as pos- 
sible, reduced all species, as simply 
varieties of one species, thus producing 
the same confusion he produced in the 
genus Viola, and many other genera. 
There are many that consider Dr. Gray 
as the only botanist, and as infallible. 
He was great enough to know better 
himself, and often admitted his mis- 
takes. Far be it from me to belittle 
the noble work of Professor Alphonso 
AA’ood, — in some respects, much the su- 
perior of Dr. Gray, — and Dr. Asa Gray, 
those two great pioneers of American 
botany, and there are other early 
American botanists, too, we should not 
fail to honor. But these noble pioneers 
could but lay the foundation of Ameri- 
can botany at the best. It seems strange 
to me that Dr. Asa Gray never recog- 
nized the true Viola cucullata of Alton, 
describing a totally different species for 
it. The true Viola cucullata Ait., is al- 
most a pure aquatic, growing in the wet- 
test of places, usually with its roots in 
perpetually flowing water, while Dr. 
Gray described a common dry woodland 
species of the north central states. But 
more of this in a special article on 
Violets is yet to follow. 
1. Amelanchier Canadensis (L.) Medic. 
Shad-F'lower. June Berry. Wild Service 
Berry. ‘‘May Cherry.” This array of so- 
called ‘‘common English names,” is a 
good illustration of their general use- 
lessness for identification of a species. 
Now not one of these names is a really 
good name for this species, ‘‘May 
Cherry” being the most abominable, — 
none of these species has a decent Eng- 
lish name, — there is no satisfactory com- 
mon English name for the genus either, 
— unless we say “Service-Berry.” Amel- 
anchier Canadensis was the first species 
described, and is the best known species, 
and the largest species of the genus, so 
far as present known. It becomes a 
tree, sometimes attaining 60 feet or 
more, and is a species not well to be 
confused with any other. It sometimes 
exceeds 2 feet in diameter at foot of 
trunk, and is emphatically a dry land, 
high land species. In early spring,— 
wliere Cercis Canadensis does not grow, 
— it is the most conspicuous object in 
our northern forests, a mass of pure 
white, when the forests are everywhere 
else destitute of blooming trees, — as yet 
no trees out in leaf. This fact alone 
AMKLANCH I KR CANADENSIS. 
renders this and other species valuable 
in our ornamental work. One of the 
best trees of this siiecies I know of was 
set out in a row of white and red maples 
by mistake (see illustration). It was 
cut back in setting out and has formed a 
very nice dense head, and is a very fine 
tree indeed, especially in early spring. 
It is now about a foot in diameter, and 
about 45 feet in height. Leaves ovate 
or oval, acute or acuminate at apex, 
rounded or cordate at the base, sharply 
and finely serrate all around the leaf, at 
first often sparingly hairy when young, 
soon entirely smooth, 1 to 3 inches long, 
— on young shoots often much larger. 
Among our smaller trees it is one of the 
best. It, however, grows much better 
shaped in the open than when crowded 
in the forest. It is commonly found on 
hills, — in Oakland County, Michigan, it 
is common on dry, sandy hills, exceed- 
ing 1,000 feet above sea-level, also with 
Amelanchier spicata, and Amelanchier 
rotundifolia. Its liranches are slender, 
and ascending at a sharp angle, as a rule, 
forming a very good head when not too 
crowded. The tree is very densely cov- 
ered with a mass of bloom when in 
flower, a very beautiful object in earliest 
spring when all else is bare. Flowers in 
spreading or drooping racemes, — of a 
greenish cast, — not as pure white as the 
next, mentioned below, but considerably 
larger and earlier to bloom. Pedicles 
(flower-stalks) long and slender; bracts 
purplish, soon falling; petals long and 
narrow, — linear-spatulate, linear-oblong, 
or linear, 3 to 4 times as long as the 
smooth calyx, the flower from 1 inch to 
IpJ inches wide. Fruit, ripe in June and 
July, globose, red or purple, sweet, about 
A of an inch long, fair to eat, and while 
excellent bird food, it is much too small 
and tedious to pick for human consump- 
tion, and quite inferior to other species 
in quality. Blooms in March and April. 
WMod brown, very hard, weighing 49 
pounds to the cubic foot. ' Range: — New- 
foundland to western Ontario, south to 
Florida and Louisiana. 
2. Amelanchier Botryapium (L. f.) 
DC. Swamp Shadbush. This species 
ranks next to the last in size, ranging 
from 10 to 30 or 40 feet in height. In 
many respects very unlike the first 
species, and while its individual flowers 
are finer, the shape of the tree is in- 
ferior to that species. It comes out in 
foliage and flower somewhat later, and 
there can be no mistake in distinguish- 
ing the two, for this species is always 
found in swamps or on wet land, — in 
cultivation accommodating itself to dryer 
soils, — and has the young leaves and in- 
florescense densely covered with white 
wool, becoming smooth when old. Leaves 
oval, oblong, elliptical, or ovate, acute 
at apex, rounded, or sometimes nar- 
rowed, or subcordate at base, finely and 
sharply serrate nearly all around. Race- 
mes, short, rather dense, pedicles short, 
— seldom over 1 inch long, woolly. Flow- 
ers smaller than last, but of a more pure 
white. Petals rather broader, — spatulate 
to linear-spatulate, 2 to 3 times as long 
as the caly.x lobes. Calyx woolly, as a 
rule, — densely white — woolly. FTuit a 
pome, about same size as that of last, 
perhaps a little better flavored. Com- 
pared with the first species, the tree is 
not as good shaped, the branches being 
coarser, and more crooked and scraggly. 
But the rather later, more clear white 
flowers, and densely white-woolly foliage 
in early spring is very attractive. In 
planting out, it should always be re- 
membered that it is a smaller tree than 
the first species. Flowers in April and 
May, — later than the first species. 
Range: — New Brunswick to Manitoba, 
Florida and Louisiana. 
3. Amelanchier Asiatica Endl. (Amelan- 
chier Japonica), Asiatic Service-Berry. A 
small tree with slender branches ; leaves 
densely woolly when young, becoming 
smooth, ovate-elliptical, acute. Racemes 
dense, compound. Habitat : China and 
Japan. Occasionally cultivated. 
