Complimentary 
NEW SERIES VOL. V NO. 14 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. OCTOBER 17, 1919 
This is a good time to visit the Arboretum. The unusually mild win¬ 
ter and the abundant summer and autumn rains have been favorable 
to most plants, and probably the Arboretum has never looked better 
at this season of the year than it does this week. Conifers, particu¬ 
larly Junipers, have not before been in better condition, and the fresh 
green of the leaves on many trees and shrubs is unusual here the 
middle of October and heightens the beauty of the autumn colors of 
the leaves of those plants which change color early under all conditions. 
Autumn Colors. There can be few places in the world where colors 
of ripening leaves are so varied or are continued through so many 
weeks. For the leaves of the plants of eastern Asia, which are well 
represented in the Arboretum, usually are beautifully colored after 
those of our eastern American trees, with the exception of the Oaks, 
have fallen. A few conspicuous exceptions to this general rule are 
worth noting:— Nearly three weeks ago and before the leaves of the 
Red Maple (Acer rubrum) had begun to change color, those of the 
Cork-barked tree of eastern Siberia (Phellodendron amurense) were 
bright gold color, making the two trees on the right-hand side of the 
Meadow Road the most brilliant objects in the Arboretum. These 
trees have now been bare of leaves for several days. They are still 
interesting objects, however, for now that the leaves have gone it is 
possible to see clearly the pale, deeply furrowed soft corky bark of 
the trunk and large branches to which this tree owes its name. The 
genus Phellodendron is confined to eastern Asia, and the five species 
now known are well established in the Arboretum. On account of this 
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