THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
401 
— 
ORNAMENTAL FRUITS AT THE ARNOLD 
ARBORETUM 
At this season one meets in Tokyo many venders with 
bunches of leafless branches of a native Holly covered 
with small red berries, but in this country fruit-covered 
branches of hardy trees and shrubs are as yet little ap¬ 
preciated for the decoration of houses, although the 
branches of several of our plants are admirably suited to 
the purpose. The fruits of many of these retain their 
beauty tor a long time and such decorations are much 
more economical than those made by the short-lived 
forced flowers of late autumn and early winter. The 
branches of the evergreen Holly of the southern states, 
Ilex opaca , however, are much used at Christmas, and 
occasionally branches Ilex verticillata can be seen here 
in the windows of enterprising florists. 
The Holly sold in the streets of Tokyo is Ilex serrala, 
and the fruit is smaller and less bright-colored than that 
of the American representatives of this plant, the so- 
called Black Alders of New England swamps. There 
are two of these, Hex verticillala and /. laevigata; the 
former is the more common plant, but the latter is 
showier as the fruit is larger and brighter-colored. 
These plants are easily cultivated and grow rapidly in 
ordinary garden soil into round-headed shrubs some¬ 
times eight or ten feet across. There are forms of them 
both with yellow fruit, a yellow-fruited form of I. laevi¬ 
gata (var. Ilerveyi) having been found a few years ago 
near New Bedford; it is not yet in cultivation. Two 
Hollies from the southern states with deciduous leaves 
and red fruits, Ilex decidua and /. monticola, are culti¬ 
vated in the Arboretum; but although their fruit is larger, 
they are less decorative in this climate than the native 
species. Ilex opaca ought to be more generally culti¬ 
vated here as the more beautiful English Holly, /. Aqui- 
folium, is not hardy in New England. The American 
species is especially valuable as it is the only broad¬ 
leaved evergreen tree which is hardy in this latitude. This 
Holly grows naturally on the coast near Quincy in this 
state, and then ranges southw ard to Texas, in some parts 
of the country becoming a large and common tree. There 
is also a form of this tree with yellow fruit. The Ink 
Berry ( Ilex glabra ) a black-fruited Holly, is one of the 
handsomest of the broad-leaved evergreen shrubs which 
are hardy in New England. The branches of this plant 
are valuable for house decoration, for the leaves do not 
fall and the fruit retains its color and freshness for a 
long time after the branches are cut. 
Another good plant for house decoration is the common 
European Privet, Ligustrum vulgare, w hich is a perfectly 
hardy shrub or small tree formerly much used in this 
country as a hedge plant and now occasionally natural¬ 
ized in the eastern states; this is one of the European 
plants which retains its leaves late in the autumn with¬ 
out change of color, and these make a handsome contrast 
with the terminal clusters of shining black fruits. Many 
species of Privet have been introduced in recent years 
into our gardens from eastern Asia but none of them are 
as desirable garden plants in this climate as this old- 
fashioned European shrub which might w r ell be grown 
lor the value oi its lruit-bearing branches in house 
decoration. 
IN early all the Mountain Ashes (Sorbus) produce hand¬ 
some red or orange nuns wnicli Keep tntur color lor a 
long time alter me brandies are cut. Hie species with 
me showiest lruit in the Arnoietmii is Soruus Americana, 
a common northern tree, several specimens 01 winch can 
ne seen on the right-hand side 01 the entrance to tiki 
felirub Collection irom the r orest Hills gate. lhese 
plants are now leaness, but the leaves beiore they 
dropped a lew hays ago had turned to bright snades oi 
yenow and scanet; but the lruus will remain on the 
nranches in good condition until the hocks oi northern 
robins arrive when they will eat every berry in prepara¬ 
tion mr their long lngnt southward. vvitn the»e pianls 
there is a tan specimen covered with lruit oi Porous mul- 
sumurana, one oi the best growing oi the numerous eas¬ 
tern Asiatic species in the collection. Several other 
species, including dinerem lorins oi the European Moun- 
tam Ash (N. Aucapurta), are cultivated in dinerem pai ls 
oi me Arboretum and are usually snort-lived. 
Many oi the Crabappies shed their iruits eariy in the 
autumn, but those oi some oi the minis or hybrius oi the 
Chinese Jiaius Jionuuuaa retain them in good condition 
during the winter or until they are eaten by birds, there 
is a group oi these trees near the eastern end oi the Ad¬ 
ministration Bunding which do not lose their lruit u.i li 
spring; these are now bright orange color and, although 
individually very small, are so numerous that the 
branches are weighed down by them, the beauty of the 
fruit being heightened by the color of the leaves which 
are just beginning to turn pale yellow. Too much can¬ 
not be said of the value of Malus floribunda as a garden 
plant in this climate especially those forms with persis¬ 
tent fruit. No other large shrub or small tree is more 
beautiful in spring when it is covered with flow r ers 
which, rose color in the bud, become white as they de¬ 
velop; the habit is good; it is perfectly hardy, and it 
never fails to produce a full crop of flowers and fruits. 
Flower-covered and fruit-covered branches are admir¬ 
able house decorations. 
Fruit-covered branches of the American and Japanese 
Bittersweets are well suited for house decoration, the 
orange-colored pods being now open and displaying the 
seeds in their scarlet pulpy coats. The leaves, which 
turn yellow before falling, have now disappeared; the 
fruit, however, will persist for some weeks longer. The 
American species, Celastrus scandens, is usually con¬ 
sidered the handsomer of the two species, the fruit being 
borne in raceme-like terminal clusters and tlierfore not 
hidden by the leaves, while in the Japanese species, C. 
articulatus, the smaller fruit is borne in axillary clusters 
so that until the leaves have fallen it is not very con¬ 
spicuous. Another species in the collection, C. flagel- 
laris, from northeastern Asia where it is widely distrib¬ 
uted, has much smaller axillary fruits and, although per¬ 
fectly hardy, is comparatively of little value as an orna¬ 
mental vine. 
