52 
distinct forms might occur among them. The last of the Azaleas, Eho-- 
dodendron viscosum, begins to open its flowers a few days later than 
those of R. arborescens. They are white in color and more fragrant 
than those of other Azaleas and smaller than those of R. arborescens 
with a long slender corolla-tube. There is also a form on which the 
flowers are deeply tinged with rose-color. The Clammy Azalea or 
Honeysuckle as this Rhododendron is called in the country is an inhab¬ 
itant of swamps and is common in the Cape Cod region and southeast. 
In cultivation this shrub grows as freely and flowers as abundantly on 
dry hillsides as it does in its native swamps and masses of it on the 
low side of Azalea Path are now covered v/ith flowers. 
The Fernleaved Beech-Tree* At the meeting last month in Newport, 
Rhode Island, of delegates and members of the Garden Clubs of Amer¬ 
ica, the fine specimen of the Fernleaved Beech-tree which stands in 
the grounds attached to the Redwood Library attracted interest and 
curiosity among the members judging by the questions which have come 
to the Arboretum about it in the last few days. The Redwood Library 
tree is not a Red-wood tree {Sequoia sempervirens) as many persons 
living in Newport once believed it to be, but a form of the European 
Beech-tree, to which the names heterophylla, asplenifolia, incisa, lacin- 
iata, and salicifolia have been given. The leaves of this variety assume 
different shapes even on the same tree, and are sometimes long, nar¬ 
row and nearly entire, and sometimes divided nearly to the midrib with 
narrow lobes. The origin of this tree which has been cultivated in 
Europe certainly since the beginning of the 18th century is not known. 
It was probably first found growing naturally in the woods as the orig¬ 
inal Purple Beech was found, but where it was first seen and the names 
of the men who found and propagated it are not recorded. Neither 
is it known at the Arboretum who planted the tree in front of the 
Redwood Library. Judging by its size this tree must be at least a 
hundred years old, and so far as is known here it is the largest speci¬ 
men in the United States. There are three shapely specimens of the 
Fernleaved Beech-tree in this Arboretum which were planted in 1885 
and 1886 and are growing rapidly. 
Ehretia accuminata a member of the Burrage Family is flowering on 
Hickory Path near Centre Street for the first time in the Arboretum. 
This interesting tree is a native of southern Japan, southern and cen¬ 
tral China and southward, and sometimes grows to a height of sixty 
feet. The leaves are alternate, light yellow green, pointed at the 
ends, from 6-8 inches long and from 2-2i inches wide and are somewhat 
pendant and incurved on their long petioles. The minute white flowers 
are borne in axillary panicles shorter than the leaves, and form a com¬ 
pound terminal infloresence from 12-18 inches in length. The flowers 
which have a strong rather disagreeable odor are followed by drupe¬ 
like fruits at first orange but becoming black at maturity. The plants 
of Ehretia accuminata growing in the Arboretum were raised from 
seed collected by Wilson in western Hupeh and sown here in 1908. The 
tree now in flower is about 12 feet high. Ehretia accuminata has not 
always proved entirely hardy in the Arboretum and it is not probable 
that it will ever grow to a large size here. 
