272 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Notes from Arnold Arboretum 
The New Chiinese Lilacs. Many of the Lilacs dis- 
co^c^(‘(l 1)\ Wilson and otlnn* travellers in the recent ex- 
ploralions of western and northern China are now so 
W(‘ll established in the Arboretum and in a few other 
Amei’ienn gardiMis that it is possible to form an o})inion 
of their value. Observations of the living plants slio\v 
that too many species were made when botanists had 
only the dried specinams sent home from China to work 
* with. Now’ that most of tliese plants have llowered in 
the Arboretum and have been again studied it appears 
that S>/rinfja WUsonii and S. Dielsuma are the same as 
S. fomentella; that S. Sargentuma is a variety of S. Kom- 
(irowii with a pulx'seent calyx; that S. tetanofoba is S. 
Swegcnzoivii, and that S. Hehderiana is probably only a 
pubescent form of S. lomentella. S. Komamwii Sargen- 
HdUd is not in the Arl)oi'etum colleetion and ])robably has 
not been introduced. S. Rehdei'Umd, S. Potdnmii and -S'. 
vervdcosd are still nnknowm in gardens. As a garden 
l)lant the handsomest of the new Chinese Lilacs is Sg- 
ringd ref'lexd winch Wilson discovered in western Hupeh. 
This is a tall liroad shrub w ith leaves resembling in size 
ami shape those of S. vUlosa. The Powders have long 
slender eorolla-tubes and are borne in long, wide- 
branehed, ojien, drooping clusters; the tlow^er-buds are 
red but as the llowers open the corolla becomes dark 
rose color except the inner surface of the lobes w hicb is 
w hite. The w ide drooping clusters, and the contrast in 
the colors of the inner surface of the corolla-lobes and 
its tube, make S. reflexd one of the handsomest and most 
interesting of the new Chinese Lilacs. Next in merit 
probably as an ornamental ])lant is Sgringa Sweginzowii. 
This, too, is a tall shrub but the liranelies are not as stout 
as those of S. ref'lexd, and the leaves are narrow^er, 
pointed at the ends and pale on the low’cr surface. The 
flowau's ar(^ produced in broad erect clusters and are pale 
rose color and half an inch long. The llower-buds are of 
a peeuliai’ brownish gi'cen color, and as the flow ers open 
gradually from the l)ottom to the top of the cluster the 
contrast between the o])en flowers below^ and the closed 
buds above give this ])lant a jieculiar appearance during 
the w eek or ten days the flow^ers are opening. This Lilac 
was first made known through ])lants raised in the Ar¬ 
boretum of Max von Sivers at Kiga in Russia from seeds 
s(‘nt from some place in Mongolia or northern China, the 
mum; of which is not ri'corded. Later it was found by 
Wilson in western China, but the plants growing in the 
Arhoi’elum were obtaim'd from the nursery of Regel & 
Kesselring in Petrograd. S. Komdroivii has leaves which 
resemble those of S. reflexd hut the flow ers are jirodueed 
in short, compact, nearly cylindrical clusters nodding 
on h)r>g stems. The llower-buds are bright red and very 
consj,i-,-.ious, and the open flowers are deep rose color. 
This Lilac sometimes blooms profusely w hen still a small 
hush, dgr, >gd tomenieUd promises to grow' taller than 
th(‘ other mw Chim'se Lilacs for some of the ])lants in 
the .Vrboit'lum are now nearly ten feet high. The leaves 
rc'semble those ot S, vUlosa, and the flowers are pale rose 
color or white, and are borne in narrow^ erect clusters. 
None of the Arhondum plants have ever produced many 
flowers and S. tomentella promises to be one of the least 
desirable of the new Lilacs as a garden plant. Sgringd 
Julianae flow^ers earlier than most of the new Chinese 
Lilacs and the flowers are already fading. As it growLS 
here this is a compact low' shrub nearly as broad as high, 
and for several years has covered itself with short clus¬ 
ters of rose-colored and white fragrant llow'ers. Related 
to the Chinese S. yubeseens, it blooms much later than 
that and other related species, and is an excellent addi¬ 
tion to the list of Lilacs wdiich can be grow n in our gar¬ 
dens. Sgringd- WoJfi, which has dark violet-purple 
flow ers in short compact clusters, is another good garden 
plant in this climate. This species, too, w^as first cul¬ 
tivated by A"on Sivers ot Riga wdio obtained it from some¬ 
place in northern China w^hich is not knowm. The other 
new Chinese Lilacs in the Arboretum, S. Megeri, S. mi- 
crophglld, S. pimidlifoUd and S. guYinanensisi have com- 
parotively little decorative value and are curiosities 
father than good garden plants. 
The Lindens. Linden-trees are very generally 
distributed in all the temperate regions of the nor¬ 
thern hemisphere with the exception of w'^estern North 
America and, in addition to numerous species, several 
hybrids are cultivated. All the species are very similar 
in flower and fruit, and chiefly vary in the size and shape 
of the leaves, in the jiresence or absence of hairs on the 
lea ves and branch lets, and in the nature of their hairy 
covering when it occurs. A fact w hich is not easy to ex¬ 
plain is the presence in the floweis of all the American 
species of petal-like scales ojiposite the petals and con¬ 
nected with the clusters of stamens, wdiile in the flowers 
of all the Old Woibl Lindens such scales do not exist. 
Another fact about Lindens which is not easy to explain 
is that the Eurojiean species grow' much better in Mas¬ 
sachusetts than the species of eastern Asia, although as 
a rule European trees do not sueeeed here as well as the 
trees of eastern Asia. The five European Lindens and the 
species from the Caucasus all flouiish in the Arboretum 
and some of these trees have grown in New England to a 
large size. The Asiatic species, however, although they 
have not been many years in this country, give little 
promise of becoming really good trees here. TUm jd- 
ponicd, which has been growing in the Arboretum for 
twTiity-five years, although still a small tree, is, how'- 
ever, iierfectly healthy; it is related to the small-leaved 
Linden of Europe' {T. corddtd) and, like that tree, is one 
of the latest Lindens to flow er here'. The graceful elroop- 
ing branches anel pale under surface of the leaves make 
this small tree attractive, anel it is the first of the Lindens 
here to unfold its leaves in the spring. The common Lin¬ 
den of the north {T. glabra or americana) is not as good 
a Iree here as several of the Europe'an species, but there 
are several either American Lindens which have been 
overlooked by Anmrican planters, and misunderstood or 
