trees, but it is valuable on account of its hardiness, the 
'■a i ly appearance of the flowers, and the early ripening uf 
(he truit. Several selected forms are grown by poniolo- 
gists. The flowers of P. nigra will soon be followed by 
those of the Chinese P. triflora. This is a common fruit 
tree in China and Japan, and from it or from some of its 
varieties the so-called Japanese plums, now so popular 
in the United States, have been derived. The plants in 
the Arboretum were obtained from seed brought in 1892 
by Professor Sargent from Japan. With P. triflora will 
probably flower one of the Siberian Apricots, P. dasy- 
(arpa. In the Arboretum it has grown into a large 
shrub with wide-spreading branches. This plant is 
chiefly interesting on account of the dark purple or black 
color of th(‘ fruits which, however, have little value in 
comparison with those of the common Apricot. 
The Shad-bushes ( Amelanchier ) are just opening their 
flower-buds and it is a delightful time in the Arboretum 
w hen they are in bloom for they have been planted freely 
in the borders and along the margins of the woods, and 
some of these plants have grown to a large size. Two 
species are native in the Arboretum, A. canadensis, which 
grows in woodlands and often becomes a tree of consid¬ 
erable size; this species can always be recognized in early 
spring by the purple color of the unfolding leaves; and 
A. obovalis, which is an inhabitant of low moist soil and 
more shrubby in habit, with gray unfolding leaves cov¬ 
ered with a thick felt. There are good sized trees of 
the former at the base of the wooded slope on the right 
hand side of the Forest Hill Road and in the rear of the 
Apple Group, and there is a large plant of A. obovalis on 
die border of the North Meadow. It is this species which 
has been generally planted in the Arboretum. 
Few of the forest trees of Europe really succeed in 
eastern North America, but in the half dozen exceptions 
to this rule the Norway Maple (Acer platanoides ) must 
certainly be included. Just now this handsome tree is 
conspicuous from the clusters of bright yellow flowers 
which cover the leafless branches. More showy than 
the flowers of the native Sugar Maple they are less deli¬ 
cate in color, while the flower clusters lack the grace of 
the slender drooping racemes of the American tree, which 
make the flowering term of the Sugar Maple a term of 
peculiar charm. 
The hybrid Forsythia intermedia is valuable as a gar¬ 
den plant. Another hybrid of the same origin, which 
was raised in Germany and is called F. intermedia spec - 
tabilis, is flowering in the Arboretum for the first time. 
The flowers are larger and of a deeper color than those 
of the parents with narrowerbutlongercorollalobes. This 
new hybrid promises to be a garden plant of exceptional 
value. It may be seen among the other species and hy¬ 
brids in the rear of the bank of Forsythias on the left 
hand side and at the lower end of the Bussey Hill Road. 
Many of the species of Ribes (Currants and Gooseber¬ 
ries) in the Shrub Collection are already covered with 
nearly full grown leaves; and a few of them, including 
the Rocky Mountain R. cereum, are in flower. 
In the Rhododendron collection at the base of Hemlock 
Hill a number of plants of R. praecox, Little Gem, are 
covered with clusters of pale lilac colored flowers. This 
plant was raised several years ago in the Veitchian Nur¬ 
sery in England by crossing the Siberian R. dahuricum 
with R. praecox, R. praecox being a hybrid between R. 
dahuricum and Himalayan R. ciliatum. The Little Gem 
Rhododendron is a dwarf and perfectly hardy plant, and 
the earliest of the evergreen Rhododendrons in the collec- 
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