y 
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NEW SERIES VOL. IX NO. 4 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
BULLETIN 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. MAY 15. 1923 
Asiatic Crabapples. Some of the early flowering species and varie¬ 
ties of these trees are perhaps the most conspicuous objects in the Ar¬ 
boretum this week. For many years much attention has been devoted 
here to these trees and the collection, which is as nearly complete as 
it has been possible to make it, is certainly one of the best in the 
world. The species are all represented here and it is not probable that 
there are more to discover although there is always a possibility that 
an undescribed species is still hidden in some unvisited valley in south¬ 
ern Kansu or in some of the other remote provinces of western China. 
New hybrids are much more probable. Indeed, there is danger that 
there may be too many of them, for these plants are so susceptible to 
pollen from their neighbors that it is useless to plant the seeds of any 
of the Arboretum trees with the expectation of obtaining seedlings sim¬ 
ilar to the parent; and as nurserymen and amateurs are now every¬ 
where planting Crabapple-seeds, there will in a few years be as many 
hybrids of unknown origin as there are now new Irises and other gar¬ 
den plants. This will mean troublesome and usually unsatisfactory 
work for the conscientious dendrologist anxious to throw light on the 
origin of cultivated trees. 
The flowering of the Crabapples makes one of the chief spectacular 
displays of the year here and of these displays only that of the Lilacs 
attracts a larger number of visitors. Many of the plants are well cov¬ 
ered with buds; a few will flower sparingly or not at all this year but 
the general display will be an average one, although not as good cer¬ 
tainly as last year when all the trees were covered with flowers. The 
collection is arranged on the left hand side of the Forest Hfills Road and 
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