62 
Asiatic Oaks. The autumn colors of the leaves of some of the Asiatic 
Oaks in the Arboretum are interesting. Those of the Japanese Quercus 
serrata are now yellow but less clear in shade than those of Q. con- 
ferta, and many of them are still partly green. Nearly all the leaves 
of the related Quercus variabilis which grows in Japan and northern 
China are still green and later will turn yellow. Yellow and green are 
now the colors of the leaves of Quercus dentata, another tree which 
grows in Japan and China and remarkable in its large leaves and win¬ 
ter-buds. The leaves of Quercus glandulifera, raised from acorns gath¬ 
ered in northern Japan, are now deep bronze color, while those on the 
trees of this species from western China are still green. Green, too, 
are the leaves of Quercus mongolica, its Japanese variety grosseserrata, 
and the Corean Q. aliena. The leaves of American Oaks are beginning 
to change color and before the end of another week should be the prin¬ 
cipal feature in the autumn picture. 
Liquidambar styraciflua, or the Sweet Gum, is one of the brilliant 
objects of the autumn when its star-shaped fragrant leaves turn to 
brilliant shades of scarlet. The Sweet Gum is a southern tree, finding 
the northern limits of its range in southern Connecticut, but it grows 
fairly well in Massachusetts, although it will probably never attain the 
size here it does under more favorable conditions. Very abundant in 
the maritime region of the south Atlantic and Gulf States, and in the 
valley of the lower Mississippi River, it has become in recent years 
important for its wood used in the interior finish of houses and for 
furniture. 
Oxydendron arboreum, the so-called Sorrel-tree or Sour Wood, is 
another southern tree conspicuous in the autumn from the bright scar¬ 
let color its leaves take on at this season of the year, making a hand¬ 
some setting for the clusters of pale capsular fruits following the 
white Heath-like flowers which open in August. 
Viburnum prunifolium, or as it is often called the Black Haw, is 
perhaps the handsomest of the small trees or large shrubs in the Arbor¬ 
etum with scarlet leaves. A common plant on hillsides in the middle 
states, the Black Haw, although not a native to Massachusetts, is per¬ 
fectly hardy here and well deserves general cultivation, for it is an object 
of beauty and interest from early spring until the beginning of winter; 
the leaves are thick to coriaceous, dark green and lustrous above, pale 
below; the flowers are white in flat clusters up to four inches in diam¬ 
eter, and these are followed by oval or obovoid fruit from one-half to 
two-thirds of an inch long, pink at first, when fully grown becoming 
dark blue, and covered with a glaucous bloom when ripe, and persist¬ 
ent on the branches until winter. The southern relative of this plant 
with which it has been long confused, Viburnum rufidulum, is a larger 
and a handsomer tree with thicker and more lustrous leaves which turn 
deep purple in the autumn. This tree, which is the largest and per¬ 
haps the handsomest of the American Viburnums, is easily recognized 
by the dark rusty brown felt which covers the winter-buds, and is 
found on the stalks of the leaves, especially on those which appear 
early in the season. This Viburnum grows in the Arboretum where 
it flowers and ripens its fruit, but it is doubtful if it ever becomes 
more than a medium-sized shrub here. 
