The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-06-28
Il POETS. TREE.
|B0tanfsts Discove- That America II
Wonderfully Rich In unwthorns.

Rich In
Twenty-Five years ego il was believed
that the flora OF the United States was
Especially poor in its h~swthorns. 4 dozen
Tor 10 varieties at tee r-ost were oil! that
ItOtanists reckoned as growing naturally
lin American soil. Within the last dozen
Years. however, the Arnold arbore.um In
Boston, the scientific tree station estahr
llished by Harvard university, has beer.
making a systematic INVESTIGATION Of the
various native forms OF hawthorns with
the result that il has been discovered that
INSTEAD OF being weak in hawthorns the
United States is exceptionally rich IN
them, with more species 10 its credit than
all the rest OF the world put together. No
less than 81 new and clearly marked spe-
cies have been added to American botany,
and dried specimens Of the Arboretum
herbarium indicate that the total number
OF these novelties mag in time rise to
nearly $50.
Many American species which until
within a short time were not recognized
by American botanists have been cult
waited for years In European gardens,
where the hawthorn, the poets tree, as it
has been called, has long been n prime
favorite among horticulturists every
where. Certain American species attract
ed the attention of the first European set
tiers in this country, and hawthorns from
which the present European plants are
presumably descended were among the
first North American plants sent back to
Europe.
1t will surprise most persons to learn
how carefully and comprehensiyely the
present study of our hawthorns is being
m -, IN wei ~, nc the
central Office, so 10 speak. the country is
divided into districts. with q trained col
lector in each gathering specimens and
making critical notes. From the principal
botanical gardens abroad specimens of
such American species Us have been cult
waited in Europe are constantly sent to the
arboretum for study and comparison with
the specimens collected on this side of the
water. and in addition u year ago Pro-
fessor Sargent. the director Of the arbore-
tum, visited London especially to exam
ire the types of the old species of Lin.
naeus and other early botanists which are
preserved in the Linnaan herbarium and
in the British museum.
AS has been said. remarkable results
have already been obtained from this
| widespread activity. Wherever botanists
have examined the woods critically in the
light of modern methods of investigation
whether at Rochester in New York. in the
neighborhood Of Chicago, in eastern
Pennsylvania, at Wilmington, Del; on
the northern peninsula of Michigan or the
coast of Maine, in central Massachusetts
Or western or eastern Florida, new forms
have rewarded the search.
Professor Sargent believes that several
| years of careful and sustained field work
will be necessary before it is possible to
| prepare anything like a comprehensive
monograph of these numerous forms. In
the meantime, with the assistance of
| some of his correspondents, he is describ-
ing the new species as fast as it is prac-
ticable to do so and is bringing them in
to cultivation at the arboretum, where
during the past two seasons about 2oO
different lots of seeds have been sown.
In addition to these sOwings the new spe-
cies are being p~ropagated by CRAFTS as
rapidly as possible, since grated plants
| will flower so much sooner than seed
lings.
Collections of all these forms will be
planted out together in the arboretum
as soon as the plants are large enough,
and in q few years the ar5oretun ought
to be the best place in the world for a
comparative study Of North American
ha wthorns. Moreover. these large sow
iugs of cratngus seeds will produce many
more plants than can find a permanent
place in this single garden. and the sur
plus will be used in the Boston parks
and on private estates in and near the
city, 50 that the Boston of the next gen.
Grafton bids fair to be a veritable para
disc for those who love hawthorns.