THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
203 
and there are several distinct forms. The plants are in 
a sheltered position and their flower-buds have not been 
injured. The handsomest of them is F. intermedia spec- 
tabilis, and of all the Forsythias which have been grown 
in the Arboretum this is perhaps the most beautiful. 
The flowers are larger than those of either of its parents, 
deep bright yellow, and are produced this year in count¬ 
less numbers, completely covering tlie wide-spreading 
branches. This plant was probably raised in Germany 
as it was sent to the Arboretum from the Spatli Nursery 
in Berlin. Other distinct and handsome forms of this 
hybrid are var. primulina and var. pallida; the former 
has pale primrose-colored flowers and appeared as a seed¬ 
ling in the Arboretum a few years ago. The var. pallida 
has pale straw-colored flowers which are of a lighter 
color than those of other Forsythias. This plant also 
first came to the Arboretum from Germany. These hy¬ 
brids are beautiful garden plants, handsomer and per¬ 
haps hardier than either of their parents, and they are 
A. laevis, is a tree sometimes forty feet high and easily 
distinguished from all other species by the red color of 
the unfolding leaves which are destitute of any covering 
of down. There are some large-sized native trees of this 
species on the wooded bank in the rear of Hie Crabapple 
Collection on the Forest Hills Road. The earliest species 
in the collection to flower is another tree and perhaps the 
largest in the whole genus, A. canadensis, which is widely 
distributed from western New York to Louisiana, and the 
only Amelanchier or Shad Bush in the southern states. 
Ribes tenue. This is one of the Currants introduced 
by Wilson from central and western China, where it is a 
common plant on the mountains at high altitudes, and a 
shrub four or five feet high. There are several speci¬ 
mens in the Arboretum, but the handsomest is in the col¬ 
lection of Chinese shrubs on the southern slopes of Bus¬ 
sey Hill. The plant is now covered with short erect 
clusters of dull yellow flowers which will be followed by 
bright red, lustrous, juicy fruits. The fruit is sweeter 
Sunken Gardens in Mitchell Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
interesting as showing what may be expected from cross¬ 
ing different species of other trees and shrubs. A good 
deal has already been done in hybridizing Boses and Rho¬ 
dodendrons. New races of Lilacs, Spiraeas and Phila- 
delphus produced by the skill of the hybridizer already 
beautify our gardens, but this business is only in its in¬ 
fancy and greater results may be expected from it than 
have ever yet been obtained. 
Amelanchiebs are beginning to flower and in a few 
days the Arboretum will be gay with the white flowers 
of these trees and shrubs which have been largely planted 
here along the margins of woods and by the borders of 
the drives. The species which has been most largely 
used in this way here is the shrubby A. oblongifolia, 
which grows naturally in the Arboretum where a large 
native specimen can be seen on the margin of the meadow 
across the path from the general collection of these plants 
which occupies the border between the Meadow Road and 
the parallel grass path on the left-hand side entering 
from the Jamaica Plain Gate. Another native species, 
than that of the common red-flowered garden Currant 
and this plant may prove to he valuable for its fruit, or to 
cross with the garden Currants. As an early spring- 
flowering shrub it deserves a place in northern gardens. 
The yellow-flowered American Currants are still 
perhaps the most attractive of the Currants and Goose¬ 
berries which can be grown in this climate. The better 
known of these, the so-called Missouri Currant (Ribes 
odoratum) is often cultivated in the United States and is 
found in many old gardens. It owes its popular name 
to the fact that it was first found on the upper Missouri 
River, but it is now known to occur on the great plains 
from Souh Dakota to Texas. This plant is often called 
in hooks Ribes aureum, but this name belongs to a plant 
with smaller flowers and black or orange-colored fruits. 
This beautiful plant is rarely cultivated in American gar¬ 
dens. The two plants are growing together in the gen¬ 
eral Shrub Collection, and the difference in their general 
appearance and in the structure of the flowers can readily 
be seen. 
