~ Vol. 45 No. 1 Winter 1984-85 ·arno ~a Page 3 Managmg a Small Woodlot Ernest Gould

15 Recogmzing and Treatmg Am Pollution Arnoldia (ISSN 0004-2633) is published quarterly m Damage to Familiar Cultivated Plants: A spring, summer, fall, and winter by the Arnold Conference Arboretum of Harvard University.

Subscriptions are $12.00 per year; single copies $3 50.

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Copynght © 1985 President and Fellows of Harvard College Edmund A. Schofield, Editor Peter Del Tredicl, Associate Editor

Front cover Wmter logging m a Vermont woodlot. (See "Managmg a Small Woodlot," page 3.) Photograph by R Norman Matheny. Courtesy of The Christian Sci- ence Momtor Opposite: Cornus canadensis, the bunch- berry. Is it really ~ust "a flowenng dogwood /C. flonda) lymg on its side, growing honzontally through the litter rather than vertically"? See page 19 for Peter Del Tredici’s answer to this intriguing question. Photo- graph by Peter Del Tredici. This page: Phlox amoena as depicted m Curtis’s Botamcal Magazme in 1810. (See "Collector’s Notebook," page 25 ~ Back cover The Ar- 19 The Layered Look nold Arboretum m winter: beech boughs after a gentle Peter Del Tredici snowfall Photograph by Pamela Bruns.

" 23 The ’Okame’ Cherry Paul W. Meyer Rick Lewandowski ,

25 COLLECTOR’S NOTEBOOK

The Appeal of Phloxes Richard E. Weaver, jr.

28 BOOKS

Managing a Small Woodlot

Ernest Gould

A professional forester urges woodlot owners to know and care for their land

I became a woodlot owner by accident because we even at mtervals on the longer straight lines. Each were making a property map for the town of year I blaze, paint, and brush out a bit of the Petersham, Massachusetts. As you might expect, boundary so that there is no confusion. As Frost there were problems. We had trouble locating a said, "Good fences make good neighbors," and a number of tracts, and one owner, who lived in well-marked boundary makes it hard for a logger Florida, wanted to sell out. He’d bought the lot to "accidentally" cut over the line. Most states cheap 15 years before, "site unseen" as they say. award tnple stumpage, the value of a tree stand- All he knew for sure was that the northeast ing in the woods, for trees "knowingly" cut on corner was 19 feet south of a big boulder and that the wrong land, so it saves grief to let people the tax bill called for 48 acres. The deed itself was know just where your land begins. coyly reticent about everything except that northeast corner and about who the abutting Mapping the Bounds neighbors had been a century or so earher. In addition, I knew that two friends of mine hadn’t This was the time to make a map of the place. been able to pin down the boundaries in their With a pocket compass, a tape, and my nephew, it spare time over the previous year. was easy to get the distance and direction of each All in all, it looked hke a real gamble as to boundary line and then plot it up. There is a good where the land was, and how much of it there description of how to do this in the Boy Scout was, so we struck a bargam, and I started hunting. Handbook. I’ve found that a scale of about 400 Nothing made much sense on the ground until I feet to the mch is useful; it allows reasonable traced the deeds back to the old Stratton farm and space to plot details, and most maps aren’t too big could follow its breakup through inheritance and to go on a standard piece of paper that fits into sale over the next hundred years. Then I knew normal files. I make the original m pencil and, where to look for comer and line markers of pipe when I’m satisfied, fimsh it with black ink. I then or "stake and stones" and, because most of my have a master that’s easily reproduced with a land had once been fields, how to mterpret stone Xerox, and having cheap copies makes it possible walls in the woods, bits and pieces of barbed wire for me to use the map freely for records of all sprouting out of trees, and old cutting boundaries. kinds. In fact, such a map is the main place where Working this out became a three-year, spare-time I note all sorts of information that makes owning hobby that eventually required pinning down two my woodlot fun. equally vague neighboring properties. Once I knew exactly where it was and had an After all that, you can bet I have well-pamted outline map of it, I wanted to know more about bounds with iron pipes set at each corner and my land. In the course of chasing boundaries I had 4

The bounds mapped and the permanent features paced. already found an overgrown road and a brook. Pacing the Permanent Features Also, I had found that red maple swales bordered two substantial segments of the stream and that When I had finished working on the boundary and these had apparently been clear-cut for fuel about the time came to look inside to see what this 25 year before. piece of real estate contamed, I learned to pace. The trees are now four to eight inches in diam- Pacing is almost a lost art that anyone can learn eter, are closely spaced, and run heavily to because it simply takes practice but, like riding a stump-sprout groups. In fact, a thinning for stove bicycle, once you’ve acquired the skill it stays wood could now be made, and the residual would with you forever. Again, the Boy Scout Hand- grow faster. book was a handy reference and about the only The rest of the area had some nice red oak here one I knew that was readily available. So, with and there, growing in mixture with other map in hand, a compass, and my natural stmde, I hardwoods or above an understory of hemlock. A started to fill in the permanent features of my few of the oaks were already 18 to 24 mches in woodlot’s topography. diameter and readily salable. But I really needed I began with my overgrown logging road and to know more precisely what was there and discovered that it was well worn and needed little where it was before decidmg what was best to do. work to clear up to a stone wall and then a bit 5

eroded and, with a little clearing and a load or two of gravel in wet spots, would be easy to revive. With this landmark in, it was logical next to map in the brook that paralleled much of the road. Doing the mam stream and pacmg the tributaries, I located all the permanent and in- termittent streams that flowed over the lowest land contaimng all the wet spots that markedly influenced growth or gave trouble with roads. I also sketched m the drainage pattern on which the higher land was hung. With the valleys done, it was easy for me to locate the ridges and knolls and to note which were steep and which gentle.

With a little cleanng and a load or two of gravel for the wet spots, a revived logging road makes the easiest trail into a woodlot Photograph courtesy of the New En- gland Forestry Foundation. beyond, to one of the streamside swales of red maples. This part was probably a farm lane that old man Stratton had laid out to get to what one of the deeds calls the "long mowing." In the early days wet swales were cleared and used to cut hay from the natural grasses that took over once the sprouts were killed off. The road continued on but gradually became more overgrown and dif- fuse, so that it looked hke a skid road used occa- sionally for logging. Judging from the old pines lying across it, which probably had blown down in the hurricane of 1938, this part of the road had been abandoned for over 40 years. Finally, even this trace disappeared some distance short of the back boundary. Primitive as it was, the old road Oaks tend to occupy the dry ndge tops. Shown here m was still the easiest trail into the it seemed lot; flower is Quercus rubra, the red oak. Photograph by well enough laid out that it was stable and not Albert W. Bussewitz. Mapping Tree Cover With the topography roughly filled in, I had also defined the main growing sites with moisture regimes different enough to be reflected in the growth of the trees. The wet swales were domi- nated by red maple, while, at the other extreme, the dry ridge tops were given over to oak. The slopes between had mixtures of hardwood with a pine here and there, while some of the gentlest slopes with diffuse, mtermittent streams had a lot of hemlock under the hardwoods. Now I could start to make some sense out of the forest cover and get a feel for where thmgs would grow. The woodlot began to take on natural form and orga- mzation.

Immature cones of the Amencan larch or tamarack, Lanx lamcma, a species that thnves m valley-bottom bogs. Photograph by Albert W. Bussewitz.

Of course, I knew the local trees because of my traming, but many owners must start from scratch and learn to identify the different species. This is relatively easy: with a good field guide and a bit of practice one can quickly identify the main leaf shapes m the summer and the buds and twigs m the wmter. In addition, many trees have a distinctive bark form, color, or texture that is easily learned. In any case, learmng the trees is the first step toward understanding what you see in the forest because the trees "integrate" the natural growth capacity of each site, telling you something about the local microclimate and The distinctive bark of the yellow birch, Betula al- about conditions below leghamensis, is an aid to its identification m wmter. ground. Photograph by Barth Hamberg. Although red maple, for instance, grows 7

everywhere as scattered individuals, it will to- trembhng aspen. White pine in central New En- tally dommate sites too wet for other trees. Yel- gland also grows almost everywhere, but forms low birch is more plentiful on moist sites and pure stands in abandoned fields and pastures. doesn’t start m big openings exposed to the hot Being the first step back toward forest in such sun. While white birch can’t stand the wet, it can places, it is succeeded by hardwoods on all but dominate sunny cut- and burned-over sites ~ust as the driest sites, such as sand and gravel plains. At well as the pioneer, short-hved gray birch and the other extreme, the wettest sites are the bogs

The short-lived gray birch, Betula popuhfoha, shown here, and the quakmg aspen, Populus tremuloides, as well as the white bmch, B. papynfera, occupy sunny cut- and bum,ed-over sites. Photograph from the Archives of the Arnold Aboretum. 8

that in central New England support sphagnum a host of other satisfactions that are generally not moss on the ground and black spruce, tamarack, traded over the counter. and the odd red maple overhead, with here and Yesterday, when land was cheap and interest there a white pine on a sandy knoll. This complex and taxes low, most folks didn’t worry about get- of species seems able to withstand the short ting the most out of their woodlands. Today, ev- growing season in these valley-bottom bogs, but erything is dear and high carrying costs make it grows very slowly and is probably most valu- owners more cautious and thoughtful, so there is able for managing watershed and wildlife, espe- a renewed interest in land management, espe- cially birds. cially in steps aimed at a balanced mix of those tangible and mtangible returns. But time and money are scarce. How should one ration them in managing a woodlot? Normal the Woodlot Managing prudence suggests investing them first m the venture that the return in cash or One of the popular myths about private land- gives greatest second in the next-best and owners like me is that we butcher our woods and satisfaction, earner, so on. The satisfaction from a mistreat them more often than any other group of greatest owning woodland comes from the initial be- landowners. I doubt we do, however, because so purchase, cause that entitles and to and all many owners I’ve met are like me in wanting to you yours any and future benefits. The next-best return take care of their woodlots. Also, year after year present is from investments to the forest - official estimates show them producing their fair safeguard share of the cut, fair in the sense that they own about half the land and cut about half the wood. In addition, their growth and harvest make about as high a percentage return on their inventory of standmg timber as do industry’s, and much better than government’s. This may simply mean that the woodlots contmue to produce m spite of ne- glect, or perhaps that "management by accident" is more effective than professionals beheve. In any case, trees grow without much attention for a great many pnvate owners. But is this the best way to en~oy and profit from a woodlot, and to be a good neighbor? In most cases, no! Following a few simple rules will bnng you greater ownership satisfaction from the land and, at the same time, will benefit your descen- dants and the pubhc at large. In the past it was not uncommon to hold a woodlot, let nature take its course, and, every couple of generations when prices were high, "lumber it off." And that still happens. But today owners have come to have a high regard for a wide array of values, including outdoor recreation, observing wildlife, hunting, relief from the work-a-day life, gams from rising A road and trail net is essential for access to all parts of a land values, aesthetics, a source of fuelwood, and woodlot. Photograph by Hope Wise. 9

good boundaries, access for fire control, taxes paid, and the hke. For most, the third-best payer is a road and trail net by which to get around and en~oy one’s woods. Finally come investments m management that will improve forest production of goods and services of all kinds. Often, much of the road-net and management cost can be mter- nally financed from the proceeds of a sale when you have suitable timber. People who never really cared much for man- agement are suddenly doing something very posi- tive as they look to their land as a means of keeping the wood basket full. In fact, a common question these days is, "Where can I buy a wood- lot, and how many acres must I have to grow enough firewood for the house?"

Cutting the Timber

If you want to accomphsh all this and get some roads and trails onto your property, it usually will be necessary to make some kmd of cutting. The time to do this is when you need the wood or when the market is brisk. Your problem may be how to find out about the state of the market. One thing you can do is to call the service forester in and ask him or her about it. Part your county you will know what to expect. Most people don’t of a forester’s is to advise job private landowners, know what should be covered by a contract, but and because foresters are the state paid by you get you can call the extension forester at your state such services free. Because there is no charge, university, and he or she will send you some don’t too much attention as the expect competi- samples. Or you can get advice from your con- tion for his or her services is stiff. understandably sulting forester. The rules (see "If You Decide to can the time of a Or, you buy consulting forester, Cut" page 10) give an idea of some of the consid- but be sure to ask about fees before start. If it you erations that should be given attention in logging. turns out that are to make a sale of you going They may give you a small start toward a more then it is to a trained timber, very important get satisfying relationship with your woodlot. person to look after your interests.

The next most important thing is to have a A forest econormst, Ernest Gould is assistant director of written contract with the logger so that both of the Harvard Forest m Petersham, Massachusetts. IF YOU DECIDE TO CUT ’ "~-~

·KNOW THE LAW. Most states have laws Entitled One Man’s Forest: Managing Your that govern the cutting of trees. Woodlot for Pleasure ~J Profit, it was Massachusetts has a Forest Cutting published in 1974 by the Stephen Greene Practices Act, for example, which requires a Press (Brattleboro, VT 05301) and is still m landowner to file a notice of intent to cut, print m paperback for $6.95. of American and a cutting plan before most timber sales. The New York Society a set of Everyone m the business of logging must get Foresters has published gmdeli.nes a commercial harvester’s license from the for the safe and efficient harvesting of state. There is also a Slash Disposal Act, woodlots. Entitled The Timber Harvest which is administered by the state fire Guidelines, they are available free of charge wardens. In addition, local conservation from the Society (c/o Richard Schwab, 200 commissions in Massachusetts administer New Maintenance Building, College of the Wetlands Protection Act, which, with Environmental Science and Forestry, State the Forest Cutting Practices Act, covers University of New York, Syracuse 13210). in wetlands. logging ·SEEK ADVICE. There are a number of three tax laws help Fmally, special places where landowners can get sound landowners with local property taxes in advice on managing a woodlot. In Massachusetts: Massachusetts, each county has a service 61 reduces annual taxes on Chapter forester, whose services are free of charge. woodlands 95 and a by percent imposes To get in touch with yours, consult the severance tax on cut under an products "Directory" beginning on page 11 of this approved timber-management plan. issue of Arnoldia. The service forester, who G1A gives relief to farmland and Chapter can get federal cost-sharing assistance for associated woodlots on bona fide active to undertake certain projects in your farms. you woodlot, is also the person to call if you G1B some tax reduction for Chapter grants want to locate a consultant or invest in tree land devoted to recreation. open management. It is also to get reduced property, possible In addition, there is an extension forester and inheritance taxes a income, by granting at most state land-grant universities (see the conservation easement on forest or other "Directory"). He (or she) is paid to use the land to the town or some other open resources of academia to help solve conservation There acceptable organization. technical forestry problems and has a are also some federal income-tax advantages number of very helpful, free publications for forest returns. about forestry. You also can get free advice ·READ UP. One of the best references I from the Cooperative Extension Service have found is the Manual for Owners and office, which usually is located in the county di~t’r~~t iviultu~etS uj ~tiW ii cOre"Si Lu"i2dS, preparcd byy seat. The Cno ~’ T f7t~ri ~Pr.TivyC a source of Garry van Wart for the Trustees of office for your locality is also Reservations (224 Adams Street, Milton, techmcal help with water-, soil-, and MA 0218G; telephone [617] 698-2066). This land-management problems. Private 113-page volume is available for $2.50 plus conservation organizations such as the $ I.35 for postage and handling. It gives more Audubon Society, the Massachusetts Land than 200 useful documents, classified League, and the Conservation Law according to eight subjects of special interest Foundation are good sources of information to landowners, in its list of references. for woodlot owners in Massachusetts. exist in Rockwell R. Stephens has written an Similar organizations virtually every entertaining and informative book on the state. joys and woes of handling a woodlot. - E.G. 111

WHERE TO GO FOR ADVICE A DIRECTORY OF INFORMATION SOURCES ON FORESTRY MANAGEMENT

In the United States and Canada, federal, Massachusetts state or provincial, and private agencies, as (Area Codes 617 and 413) a wide va- well as state universities, provide State Government riety of sound information on the manage- In Massachusetts, the Bureau of Forest Development has divided the state into five each with its In addrrion to the ment of small woodlands. In some cases the regions, Regional Supervisor Bureau’s Main Office in Boston, there is an office in Lancaster information is available at no in oth- charge, Boston Office ( l9th Floor, 100 Cambndge Street, Boston ers there is a fee. A brief directory to some of 02202) the key information sources follows. Ad- State Forester (617) 727-3163 dresses and, whenever possible, telephone Chief Forester (617~ 727-3184 numbers are indicated. Lancaster Office (Post Office Box 173, Lancaster 01523) Forester (617) 368-1780

NATIONAL Forestry Regions Federal Government (United States) Region I, Southeastern Massachusetts (Myles Standish Forest Service State Forest, Box 66, South Carver 02366) Department of Agriculture Supervisor (617) 866-2580 Post Office Box 24177 II, Northeastern Massachusetts /Carhsle Re- DC 20013 Region Washmgton, 817 Lowell Road, Carlisle 01741)1) 447-3957 gional Headquarters, (202) Supervisor /617~ 369 3351 Federal Government (Canada) Region III, Worcester County (Box 155, Clinton 01510/ Forestry Service Supervisor ~617) 368-0126 Environment Canada Region IV, Connecticut Valley (Box 484, Amherst Ottawa, Ontano K1A 1G5 994-1879 01004) (819) Supervisor (413) 549-1461 Petawawa National Forestry Institute Hamden County (Hampton Ponds State Park, Route 202, Box 537A, Chalk Ontario Westfield 01085) River, KOJ 1J0 Forester /413/ 532-3985 (613) 995-7010 Region V, Berkshire County (Post Office Box 1433, 740 REGIONAL South Street, Pittsfield 01202) Supervisor (413) 442-8928 Federal Government (United States) Northeastern Area Director State Bookstore The State Bookstore sells a booklet all of the of U.S. Forest Service containing regulations the Dtmston of Forests and Parks To order the booklet, request Document Pnvate State and Forestry 304 CMR 1 00-5 00 and enclose a check for $4 05 ($3 00 plus $1 05 for 370 Reed Road postage) made out to "Commonwealth of Massachusetts " The book- Broomall, PA 19008 store’s address is State Bookstore 461-3125 (215) Room 116 State House NEW ENGLAND Boston, MA 02133 Its telephone number is /617~ 727-2834 The New England Forestry Foundation (85 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116) retams consulting woodland managers who will (for a fee) draw up a management Extension Service plan according to a woodland owner’s wishes. Write the Extension Forester Foundation’s Head Forester, or call (617) 437-1441. Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management 12

Holdsworth Hall Land Use Regulation Commission [for woodlands University of Massachusetts within unorganized towns and plantations] Amherst 01003 Department of Conservation (413) 545-2665 Station 22 State House State University 289-2631 [Toll-free in Maine: 1-800-452-8711] Chairman, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Man- agement Private Holdsworth Hall Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine, Inc. University of Massachusetts RFD 1, Box 420A (413) 545-2665 Pittsfield 04967

Several paper companies (for example, Boise Cascade in Rumford, Geor- 1 gia Pacific in Woodland, Internattonal Paper in Augusta, Robbins Lumber <, iB in Searsmont, St Regis in Bucksport, Scott Paper Company in Fairfield, and S D Warren in Westbrook) offer woodland-management advice to private landowners In most cases there is no charge for this service, though some compames ask for first-refusal nghts on the timber The Other New England States Extension Service Extension Forester Connecticut 107 Nutting Hall Code ‘ (Area 203) University of Maine State Government Orono 04469 581-2892 State Forester State Office Building State University 165 Avenue Capitol Director, School of Forest Resources Hartford 06106 206 Nutting Hall 566-5348 University of Mame 581-2844 Private Connecticut Forest and Park Association, Inc. 1010 Main Street Post Office Box 8537 New Hampshire East Hartford 06108-8537 (Area Code 603) 289-3637 State Government Director, Division of Forests and Lands Extension Service Department of Resources and Economic Develop- Extension Forester ment Box U-87 Post Office Box 856 University of Connecticut 105 Loudon Road Storrs 06268 Concord 03301 Extension Forester 271-2214 Extension Center Chairman, Department of Forest Resources 06234 Brooklyn 215 James Hall University of New Hampshire Maine Durham 03824 (Area Code 207) 862-1020 State Government Private Maine Forest Service Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Station 22 Forests State House 54 Portsmouth Street Augusta 04333 Concord 03301 289-2791 224-9945 13

Extension Service State University Extension Forester Department of Forestry 110 Pettee Hall School of Natural Resources Umversity of New Hampshire Room 313 862-1029 The Alken Center County Forest Management Supervisor University of Vermont 111 Pettee Hall 656-2620 Umvers> ty of New Hampshire 862-1029 OUTSIDE NEW ENGLAND Rhode Island New York (Area Code 401) (Area Codes 315, 518, and 607) State Government State Government Chief, Division of Forest Environment Director, Division of Lands and Forests Route 101 Department of Environmental Conservation RFD 2, Box 851 Room 404 North Scituate 02857 50 Wolf Road ’ 647-3367 Albany 12233-0001 (518) 457-2475 Extension Service Director of Cooperative Extension Service Bureaus of the Division of Lands and Forests (all at University of Rhode Island 50 Wolf Road, Albany 12233-0001). Kingston 028811 Forest Management Bureau 792-2474 Room 406 Regional Offices (9:OOA.M. to2:00P.M., weekdaysJ~ (518) 457-7370 Southern Rhode Island 539-2004 Real Property Services Bureau Providence area 272-1132 Room 116 Jamestown area 423-1322 (518) 457-7670 State University Forest Protection and Fire Management Bureau Chairman, Department of Natural Resource Science Room 408 201B Woodward Hall (518) 457-5740 University of Rhode Island 792-2370 Private Secretary, New York Forest Owners Association, Inc. RD 2 Vermont Skyhigh Road, Tully 13159 Code (Area 802) (315) 696-8002 State Government Director of Forests Extension Service Agency of Environmental Conservation Forest Resources and Land Use State Office Building State Cooperative Extension Montpeher 05602 Department of Natural Resources 828-3375 122A Fernow Hall Comell University Extension Service Ithaca 14853-0188 Extension Forester (607) 256-7703 Room 345 The Aiken Center State University University of Vermont School of Forestry Burhngton 05405-0088 107 Marshall Hall 656-3258 State University of New York 14

College of Environmental Science and Forestry at foresters are stationed at and affihated with state land- Syracuse Umversity grant universities. Syracuse 13210 ’ An excellent guide to state, provincial, and federal agencies and private organizations m both countnes is the National Wildlife Federation’s Conservanon Dmec- ELSEWHERE tory, which is issued in a new edition at the start of each , year. The 1985 edition is available from the Federation Contact the department of natural resources or envi- (1412 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036) for ronment m your state or provincial capital for the ad- $15.00 plus $1.55 for shipping When ordemng, request dresses and telephone numbers of your state’s or prov- Order Number 79552. Many libraries subscribe to the mce’s foresters. In the United States, most extension Directory. RECOGNIZING AND TREATING AIR POLLUTION DAMAGE TO FAMILIAR CULTIVATED PLANTS: A CONFERENCE JAMAICA PLAIN, MASSACHUSETTS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, AND SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1985 Conference on Phytotoxic Air Pollutants Will Unravel Technical Complexities and Develop Practical Solutions for the Nonspecialist

Cultivated plants suffer from pests of many lar pollutant or group of pollutants m individual kinds - ammal, fungal, and bactenal. In most species and varieties of plants. It is to foster this cases a culprit is easily pinpomted through rou- first, essential step among both professionals and tine experiments or even simple observation, and advanced amateurs that Arnoldia magazine mll linked to the damage it wreaks. The cause-and- sponsor "Recognizing and Treating Air Pollution effect relationships between pests and symptoms Damage to Familiar Cultivated Plants: A Confer- are well worked out, and there is consensus ence" on September 6 and 7, 1985. among the experts. Even the effects of extreme The Conference will meet for two days in heat, extreme cold, drought, windiness, and simi- Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Indoor sessions lar nonbiological agents are scientifically well will be held both days in the Massachusetts State understood. But when it comes to damage to Laboratory Institute building adjacent to the Ar- plants caused (or suspected of being caused) by air boretum ; outdoor sessions will take place in the pollutants, knowledge is sparse and tenuous at Arboretum itself. best; more often than not, the experts disagree about causes and state symptoms-if they any A 113-year-old botamcal garden devoted to opimon at all. Rehable knowledge comes only the of the North slow and scientific woody plants Temperate through painstaking experi- the Arnold Arboretum is a mentation. Zone, separately endowed institution within Harvard Umver- Fortunately, careful experimentation and ob- sity and, at the same time, a of servation have to into the component begun yield insights the of Boston’s It is and interactions city pubhc-park system. complex relationships among an international center for research and m- the air sulfur pollutants (ozone, dioxide, nitrogen struction, presenting scientists and students oxides, and so forth) that harm cultivated plants. with an exceptional opportumty to study the Symptoms manifested by species and particular biology of trees and other woody plants. Its varieties have begun to be identified. Armed with principal living collection of 6,192 taxa of" the new that has resulted from the understanding trees and shrubs a 265-acre site m scientific work, horticulturists and other occupies plant the Jamaica Plam section of Boston. The ’, scientists often are now able to devise solutions best-documented collection of its kind m the to counteract the effects of pollution. world, it currently numbers m excess of Some plant scientists have opted to develop Records of the of for while 14,000 specimens. origin pollution-resistant strains, example, each specimen and notations of observations others implement measures for the ef- mitigating by the staff increase the collection’s value for fects of - soils with mate- pollutants amending research and education. Each plant is labelled rials that counteract some of the effects of the with its name, accession number, and origin. pollutants, or prescribing new cultivation tech- Few locations m the world provide such a mques. But to select a resistant strain or prescribe diverse array of plants. Participants in the measures, one first must know which mitigating Conference will examme some of the speci- pollutant or combination of is respon- pollutants mens m the living collections for identifiable sible for the in damage question; this, in turn, damage, under the of an to the and air-pollution guidance requires abihty identify symptoms the Conference’s instructors. damage characteristically caused by each particu- 16

A particularly extreme example ot air-pollution damage to the leaves of a European linden growing two blocks from the White House m Washington, D.C. Photograph by One L. Loucks.

Format of the Conference counteracting the observed effects. The emphasis will be placed on routine horticultural techmques The Conference will be conducted as both a typi- whenever practicable, but innovative or unusual cal course of mstruction and a participatory techmques will be sought whenever necessary. workshop, with the instructors serving as work- The Conference will be very strongly geared to shop leaders and the participants playing an ac- the special needs of nursery owners and other tive role m devising methods for ameliorating the plantspeople, although nonprofessionals will be effects of the pollutants. Instructors will present welcomed, of course. Participants will be urged to overviews of the current state of knowledge about photograph specimens identified by the instruc- phytotoxic air pollutants, concentrating on visible tors as displaying characteristic symptoms of symptoms and the physiological mechamsms air-pollution damage. (Ideally, it should be possi- through which the pollutants affect individual ble m some cases to extrapolate the results of species and varieties of plants, and will guide the research to plants related to those used in the participants in detailed on-site exammation of research.) Through this process of interaction be- typical symptoms on trees and shrubs m the Ar- tween instructors and participants, a file of au- boretum’s living collections. The participants, thenticated photographs will be made available. who will consist of botamsts, horticulturists, and The resultmg stockpile of photographs will serve other individuals knowledgeable m the plant sci- as a source of illustrations for the Conference’s ences or immediately dependent for their liveh- proceedings, which will be pubhshed early in hoods on plants, will join in on-the-spot discus- 1986 as a special seventy-fifth anniversary issue sions aimed at identifying practical measures for of Arnoldia. To be orgamzed as a practical and BOOKS

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... and hundreds of others, including a selection of fine books for children and unusual gifts, such as Country Glass ware, John McLeod woodenware, Learning Materials Workshop toys, flower-arranging tools, and other hard-to-find items. Mail and telephone orders accepted. Personal checks, American Express card, Mastercard, and Visa accepted.

Arnold Arboretum Shop (617) 524-1718 BACK ISSUES OF ARNOLDIA FOR LIBRARY AND CLASSROOM USE

Many back issues of Arnoldia are still available, some of the most often requested issues having been reprinted. Copies of Volume 30, Number I (January 15, 1970), through Volume 42, Number 4 (Fall 1982), are available for $2.25; copies of Volume 43, Number I (Winter 1982-83),), up to and including the current number, are available for $3.50. Some complete volumes and individual numbers of Volumes I to 29 (1941-1969) are still in stock. Please write for details about their availability and prices. Librarians note: A cumulative index to Volumes 1 through 29 is available for $2.50. Some Issues of Special Interest · A Remsed Glossary o/ the More Common Botamcal and Horticultural Terms, by C E Kobuskt 21 pages 1955 $1 00. · A Gmde to CW Trees m the Boston Area, by R E Weaver, Jr 39 pages 1972 $2 25 · Centenmal Lectures The Potennal o( Arboreta and Botamcal Gardens, edited by [ S Wadletgh (Lectures presented m 1972 durmg the Arboretum’s Centennral Celebration, brought together m one volume ) 242 pages 1973 $8 00 · Wtld Plants m the CW by N M Page and R E Weaver, Jr 116 pages 1974 $3 00 Poisonous Plants, by R A Howard, G P DeWolf, Jr, and G H Pride 56 pages 1974 ~reprmted 1978) $3 00 Propagation Manual of Selected Gymnosperms, by A Fordham and L I Spraker 89 pages 1977 $3 00. · E H W~lson, Photographer, by P [ Chvany 56 pages 1976 $3 00 Street Trees for Home and Municipal Landscapes, by G L Koller and M A Dm 165 pages 1979 (reprinted and bound as a handbook) $5 00 · Urban Islands Trees and Shrubs for the Inner Clty, by C Kahn, A W Spim, E Flemer III, and G L Koller 56 pages 1984 $3 50

With the exception of airmail postage to foreign countnes, the prices shown include postage and handhng Foreign airmail postage will be quoted on request " Please accompany personal orders by checks for the exact amount of the order, make checks payable to "The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Dealers and institutions may ask to be billed Trade discounts will be quoted on request Members of the Fnends of The Arnold Arboretum receive a 15 percent discount on all items listed ~Pnces for Fnends are given in parentheses ~ PROGRAM AND REGISTRATION FORM RECOGNIZING AND TREATING AIR POLLUTION DAMAGE TO FAMILIAR CULTIVATED PLANTS: A CONFERENCE September 6 and 7, 1985 Sponsored in association with the Holcomb Research Institute of Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Suburban Experiment Station of the University of Massachusetts, Waltham

The Conference will meet at the State Laboratory Institute, corner of Arborway (Route 203) and South Street, Jamaica Plain, which is immediately adjacent to the Arnold Arboretum, and on the grounds of the Arboretum itself. Coffee and lunch will be served in the State Laboratory building on both days. Program Friday, September C~th Saturday, September 7th 8:30 a.m. Coffee and Registration 9:00 a.m. Coffee 9:00-4:00 p.m. Conference Lectures and Fieldwork 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Conference Lectures and Fieldwork

Conference Instructors (partial list) · John H. Alexander III (Arnold Arboretum) · Orie L. Loucks (Holcomb Research Institute) · William J. Manning (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) · William A. Feder (Suburban Experiment Station, Waltham) · David F. Karnosky /Michigan Technological University) Fee: $90.00 for Members or subscribers; $130.00 all others (Fee includes lunch and coffee both days, special Arnoldia issue, and information packet.) Please note: Fee does not include overnight accommodations. We regret that the Arnold Arboretum is unable to assist participants with travel and lodgmg arrangements. Please consult your local travel agent. Individuals who join the Arboretum when registering for this Conference may receive the reduced Members’ rate ($90.00). To do so, simply send a separate check for $25 along with your course registration form and fee.

177

specializes in the interaction between air pollut- ants and the biological agents of plant diseases, especially diseases of economic plants. Dr. Feder is also a plant pathologist; for many years he has led air-pollution research projects at the Univer- sity of Massachusetts. Dr. One L. Loucks has supervised numerous major research projects on the ecology of forests in the Umted States and Canada. He will contnb- ute insights gained from three decades of mten- sive work. The director of Holcomb Research In- stitute, an institution that speciahzes m envi- ronmental research, Dr. Loucks currently is studying the effects of air pollution on forest trees and crop plants in the Midwest, especially the Ohio River valley. Air-pollution injury to the leaves of a magnolia growing near the White House m Washington, D. C. Photograph by One L Loucks convenient field-identification manual, the pro- ceedings volume should emerge as a standard ready-reference on phytotoxic air pollutants. Each participant in the Conference will automat- ically receive a copy of the special issue upon its publication.

Instructors

Instructors for the Conference will include hor- ticultunsts, botamsts, and plant pathologists who have specialized in research on the effects of air pollution on economically important species of plants, including familiar ornamentals and other cultivated plants. One of the mstructors, John H. Alexander III of the Arboretum staff, has partici- pated in inter-institutional research projects on leaf-roll necrosis in lilacs, a disorder that is be- lieved to be caused by ozone. Drs. William J. Manmng of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and William A. Feder of that Universi- ty’s Suburban Experiment Station in Waltham- the other principal participants m the project- will also serve as Conference instructors. Both A lilac seedling exposed to ozone m expenments done have worked on phytotoxic air pollutants for to determine the role ozone plays in causing leaf-roll many years. A plant pathologist, Dr Manning necrosis. Photograph by John H. Alexander III. 188

Dr. David F. Karnosky of Michigan Technolog- eastern Forest Experiment Station, Forest Ser- ical University, a forest geneticist whose work vice, 1976. 1074 pages. European Congress on the Influence of Air Pollution on deals with the variability in air-pollution toler- Plants and Ammals, First, Wagemngen, 1968. Air ance of is m trees, currently engaged developing Pollution. Wagemngen: Centre for Agncultural urban-hardy trees for use in heavily polluted Publishing and Documentation, 1969. 415 pages. areas. He was formerly on the staff of the Cary Jacobson, Jay S., and A. C. Hill, editors. Recognition of Arboretum of the New York Botamcal Garden. Air Pollution In~ury to Vegetauon. A Pictomal Atlas. Informative No. 1. Pittsburgh: Air Additional instructors will be m the near Report engaged Pollution Control Association, 1970. 108 future. pages. Kender, W. J., and N. J. Shauhs. Vmeyard management practices mfluencmg oxidant injury in ’Concord’ grapevines. journal of the Amencan Society of How to Register Horticultural Science, Vol. 101, No. 2, pages 129-132 (1976). The fee for the Conference is $130 or-for mem- Lacasse, Norman L., and M. Treshow, editors. Diagnos- ing Vegetation In~ury Caused by Air Polluuon. bers of the Friends of the Arnold Arboretum, m- Ecological Research Senes EPA-450/3-78-005. dividual subscribers to and members of Arnoldia, Research Tnangle Park, North Carohna: U S. the Massachusetts Horticultural Society-$90. Environmental Protection Agency, 1978. 299 Nonmembers and nonsubscnbers who lom or pages. subscnbe when they register for the Conference Malhotra, S. S., and R. A. Blauel. Diagnosis of Am Pol- will quality for the lower fee. lutant and Natural Stress Symptoms on Forest Vegetation in Western Canada Information Re- The deadme for is 1985. A registration June 14, port NOR-X-228. Edmonton, Alberta: Northern registration form accompanies this announce- Forest Research Centre, Canadian Forestry Ser- ment. Please address inquiries to "Conference, vice, 1980. 84 pages. The Arnold Arboretum, The Arborway, Jamaica Musselman, R. C., and R. E. Melious. Sensitivity of grape cultivars to ambient ozone. HortScience, Plan, MA 02130," or telephone (617) 524-1718. Vol. 19, No 5, pages 657-659 ( 1984/. Oliver, F. W. On the effects of urban fog upon cultivated plants. fournal of the Royal Horticultural Soci- Selected Background Readings ety, Vol. 13, No. 1, pages 139-151 (1891) and Vol. 16, No. 1, pages 1-59 (1893). B~orkman, Erik. The effect of fertilization on sulphur Ormond, D. P. Pollution in Horticulture. Fundamental dioxide damage to comfers m industnal and Aspects of Pollution Control and Environmental bmlt-up areas. Studia Forestaha Suecica No. 78. Science 4. Amsterdam, Oxford, and New York: Stockholm: Royal College of Forestry, 1970. 48 Elsevier Scientrflc Publishing Company, 1978. pages. 260 pages. Davis, Donald S., and Raymond G. Wilhour. Suscepti- Plochmann, Richard. Air pollution and the dying forests bihty of Woody Plants to Sulfur Dioxide and of Europe. American Forests, Vol. 90, No. 6, Photochemical Oxidants: A Literature Remew. pages 17-21, 56 (June 1984). Ecological Research Senes EPA-60013-76-102. Smith, G. C., and E. G. Brennan Response of honeylo- Corvalhs, Oregon: U.S. Environmental Protec- cust cultivars to air pollution stress in an urban tion Agency, 1976. 72 pages. envmonment. journal of Arbonculture, Vol. 10, Dochmger, Leon S., and Thomas A. Seliga, editors. Pro- No. 11, pages 289-293 (November 1984). ceedings of the First Internauonal Symposium Usher, Roland W., and Wayne T. Williams. Air pollu- on Acid Precipitauon and the Forest Ecosystem, tion toxicity to Eastern White Pme m Indiana Columbus, Ohio, 1975. General Technical Re- and Wisconsm. Plant Disease, Vol. 66, No. 3, port NE-23. Upper Darby, Pennsylvania: North- pages 199-204 (March 1982). The Layered Look Peter Del Tredici

The humble bunchberry yields startling insights into tree architecture

I shall never forget a walk in the woods I once out during their first year. Clearly, C. canadensis took at the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massa- lacks the strict apical control that most woody chusetts, with Francis Halle, the French botanist plants exhibit. who pioneered the study of tree architecture. It In the most well-developed year-old bunch- was April 1975, and the forest floor was alive berry seedhngs, the tips of the rhizomes had with wildflowers. Among them was Cornus turned up and formed new above-ground shoots, canadensis, the bunchberry, which was just com- each with a characteristic whorl of leaves. At ing out. Dr. Halle took one look at the little plant some variable pomt below this region of upturn- and said that it was like a flowering dogwood (C. ing, one or more new buds had formed in the axils florida) lying on its side, growing horizontally of the rhizomes’ bud scales; they were destmed to through the litter rather than vertically. It was a continue horizontal growth through the forest lit- fanciful statement, containing more poetry than ter when they grow out the following spring. botany, I thought, yet something about it rang What at first glance might appear to be a popula- true. tion of separate bunchberry plants, then, usually After years of thinking about Dr. Halle’s com- turns out to be a single individual. ment in only the vaguest of terms, I recently had While none of the bunchberry seedlings I grew the opportumty to look into it more critically reached flowering age, I found that mature when a group of bunchberry seeds I had collected near Mount Katahdin in Mame germinated in the Dana Greenhouses of the Arnold Arboretum (see the table, page 21). The httle seedlings grew amazingly fast and after just a single season’s growth were producing numerous underground stems. These rhizomes, as such underground stems are called, grew out either from the axils of the seed leaves - the cotyledons - or from the axils of the first few true leaves. Seedlings that did not produce rhizomes set large buds which grew out as rhizomes the following spring. The fact that these bunchberry seedlings pro- duced rhizomes in their first season came as a surprise to me because it is exactly the reverse of the behavior exhibited by most tree seedlings, A Cornus canadensis seedling m its first season, show- which build a strong vertical stem by preventing mg rhizomes growing from the aauls on the cotyledons. the buds lower down on the trunk from growing Photograph by Peter Del Tredici. 20

Germination of Bunchberry Seeds** specimens cultivated at the Arboretum usually, but not always, flowered on the upturned tips of these rhizomes, while buds closer to the base of the rhizome grew out, producing new rhizomes that would turn upward and flower the next spring. The plant thus produces a branch system bmlt up by the activities of several different buds growing out in relays - each of which contmues the line of growth in the honzontal direction after the previous bud turns up to produce a flower. Before one can answer the question of whether this growth habit of C. canadensis is just a hori- *The germination of Cornus canadensis seed collected zontal version of that of C. flomda, as Dr. Halle wild on the Penobscot River, near Mount Katahdin, one needs to have a clear con- Mame Seeds (100 per treatment) were sown on Sep- initially suggested, of how tember 14, 1982. Seedlings were counted on December ception the latter species grows. First, 13, 1983 The soak m concentrated sulfunc acid was flowering dogwood has a "layered" look m the recommended by C S. Schopmeyer in 1974. arrangement of its branches, which Hal Borland 1

A Cornus canadensis seedling showing a well-developed cotyledonary crown. The arrow pomts to a relay bud that will grow out the following season Photograph by Peter Del Tredici. 21

after year, while the lateral branches are produced by meristems growing horizontally in "relays." These relays originate in buds below the shoots that turned upward to produce flowers. In reality, the distinction between the behavior of the termmal and the lateral shoots of flowering dogwood is not as clear-cut as I have described. In particular, the terminal shoot often seems to lose its vigor for no apparent reason and is replaced by one of the laterals. This usually occurs in the spring, when the young branches are beginning to grow out. The growth habit of the bunchberry, of course, is entirely different from that of the flowering

The earliest known illustration of Cornus canadensis, from the 1672 edition of New England’s Ranties, dis- covered, with the followmg caption: This plant I take for a vanegated Herb Pans, True Love, or One Berry, or rather One Flower, which is milk white, and made up with four Leaves, with many black threads m the middle, upon every thread grows a Berry (when the Leaves of the Flower are fallen) as big as a white pease, of a light red colour when they are ripe, and clustenng together m a round form as big as a Pullets Egg, which at a distance shews but as one Berry, very pleasant m taste, and not un- wholesome....

describes as "horizontal limbs that reach skyward at their tips and form a fine lace pattern." Among deciduous temperate zone trees, such layering is unusual. It occurs m the dogwood because the shoot that bmlds the central trunk is physiologi- distinct from the shoots that build the lat- cally Cornus flonda winter silhouette. Drawing by Olga A. eral branches. The trunk is produced by the activ- Smith, from Tree Flowers of Forest, Park, and Street, by ity of a smgle menstem that grows vertically year Walter E. Rogers; courtesy of Dover Publications, Inc. 22

dogwood. Yet a curious similarity exists: the insensitive to any inhibitory hormones the ter- bunchberry plant resembles a lateral branch of minal bud might be producing. Regardless of flowering dogwood growing independent of a which is true, apical control is at the heart of the trunk. Dr. Halle later discussed this in his book, differences in growth habit between Cornus Tropical Trees and Forests, written with R. A. A. florida and Cornus canadensis. Clearly, Dr. Hal- Oldeman and P. B. Tomlinson. In it, he states that le was right when he descnbed the bunchberry the architecture of herbs is derived from that of as a flowering dogwood without a trunk. trees by a process he calls "fragmentation":

In Cornus canadensis the creeping, somewhat Sources woody axis may be equated with one branch of a Borland, H., and L. Line. A Countryman’s Woods New tree ancestor. The superficial similarity is en- York: Alfred A. 1983. hanced by the development of foliage leaves in Knopf, Chapagnat, P. 1976. Formation of the trunk m woody distinct rosettes along the honzontal axis in both plants. In Tropical Trees as Lmmg Systems, forms. In such examples, if this interpretation is edited by P. B. Tomlinson and M H. Zimmer- correct, there should be some elvdence of the or- mann Cambndge : Cambndge University Press, trunk m the thotropic [vertical] epicotyledonary 1976. axis. Ferguson, 1. K. The Comaceae m the Southeastern Having followed up Dr. Halle’s speculation United States. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, with some solid observation of my own, I can 47(2) : lOG-1G /19GG/. Halle, F., R. A. A. Oldeman, and P. B. Tomhnson. Trop- now that the remnant of a trunk in C. say only ical Trees and Forests. Berlin, Heidelberg, New canadensis is the vertical tip of the seedhng York SPnnger-Verlag 1978. shoot, which reaches a height of no more than Josselyn, J. New England’s Rarities 1672. Reprint. Bos- two or three centimeters before the basal ton. William Veazie, 1865. Ramaroson-Ramparany, L. "Contribution a 1’etude rhizomes grow out and compete with it. The fact architecturale de quelques hgneuses des regions that the rhizomes take root as they grow through temperees." Ph D. thesis, Academie de Montpel- the soil not only ehminates the need for a central lier, France, 1978. trunk to distribute nutrients, but also the need Rogers, W. E. Tree Flowers of Forest, Park and Street. for any centralized control over their growth pat- Appleton, Wisconsm: W E. Rogers, 1935. C. ed. Seeds Plants m the tern. Schopmeyer, S., of Woody Umted States Agriculture Handbook No. 450. At this time, no one knows bunchberry why Washington, D.C : Forest Service, U.S. Depart- control. There are two lacks apical possibilities. ment of Agnculture, 1974. The terminal bud may not produce the growth- inhibiting hormones that would keep the Peter Del Tredici is assistant plant propagator at the rhizomes from growing, or the rhizomes may be Arnold Arboretum and associate editor of Arnoldia. The ’Okame’ Cherry Paul W Meyer Rick Lewandowski

This early-flowering hybrid is reliably hardy to Zone 5

Of the many cultivated vaneties of flowering boretum in 1946. Though distnbuted to other cherry growing at the Morris Arboretum of the botamcal institutions, ’Okame’ remains rare in Umversity of Pennsylvama, the most popular the nursery trade. Conard Pyle Nursery and J. with staff and visitors ahke is Prunus xmcam Frank Schmidt Nursery are large wholesale com- ’Okame’. Its bright fuchsine-pink flowers (Hor- pames that have recently begun to produce it. In ticultural Colour Chart 627/2) are among the ear- addition, Weston Nurseries in Hopkmton, Mas- liest spnng blossoms to appear. They never fail to sachusetts, is growing ’Okame’, and Wayside attract attention. In Philadelphia, the blossoms Gardens will offer it to mail-order customers be- open as early as March 28th and as late as April gmnmg in the spnng of 1985. 13th, depending on the weather. Even before the Research has shown that ’Okame’ cherry roots blossoms open, the deep maroon flower buds are easily from softwood cuttings and is well adapted showy, while the red calyx and stamens persist to both field and contamer production. At the for a week after the petals drop. Thus, spring Morris Arboretum, six-inch cuttings are taken color lasts for up to three weeks. from mid- to late June. These are treated with ’Okame’ cherry has a small, upright crown Hormoroot A ( 1,000 parts per million of in- matunng at 25 feet. Its small stature and fine leaf dolebutrync acid and Thiram), and 95 percent of texture make it particularly adaptable to small the cuttings are well rooted within four weeks. gardens. In the autumn its foliage becomes bright Termmal cuttings yield plants with the best up- shades of orange and yellow. nght form; lateral cuttings require pruning to ’Okame’ was produced in England early this form a strong leader. century by Captain Collingwood Ingram, a famed As a young plant, ’Okame’ cherry grows rapidly cherry collector and hybridizer. Ingram had been and often begins flowering immediately. It is impressed with the deep rose flowers of Prunus fully hardy in Philadelphia, and the expanding campanulata but was frustrated by its lack of flower buds withstand late spring frosts. It thrives winter hardmess. Using P. campanulata as the at the Arnold Arboretum, and a specimen ob- pollen parent, he crossed it with P. incisa, a served m Cmcmnati for the past six years has species noted for its profusion of flowers and cold been unaffected by the winters. Thus far, hardiness. ’Okame’ was selected as a superior ’Okame’ cherry has been reliably hardy to Zone 5. seedling from this cross. In 1952, it received the In 1981 ’Okame’ received the Prelimmary Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticul- Commendation of the Pennsylvania Horticul- tural Society. tural Society and is now being evaluated for the J. Dr. Henry Skinner obtamed scion wood from Franklin Styer Award for Exceptional Garden Captain Ingram and brought it to the Morris Ar- Merit. 24

Sources 79, No. 3, pages 127-133 (1954/. (’Okame’ is dis- cussed on pages 130 and 131.).) Bean, W. J. Trees and Shrubs Hardy m the Bnlsh Isles, eighth edition. Four volumes. London: John Mur- ray, 1976. (The ’Okame’ cherry is described m Paul W. Meyer is Assistant Director of Horticulture and Volume 3, page 376.) Rick Lewandowski Assistant Curator for Propagation, Fletcher, H. R. Award of Garden Merit-LXXXVII. at the Morns Arboretum of the University of Pennsyl- Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, Vol. vania. COLLECTOR’S 60 or so species are totally North unattractive to many people. But American m save fortunately, most species are NOTEBOOK distribution, for a single Siberian species. The quite variable in the wild, and the appeal of phloxes to gardeners is most attractively colored forms understandable, because they are have been selected and brought The Appeal of both beautiful and serviceable into cultivation. And breedmg by plants. The species vary greatly horticulturists and other plant Phloxes m height and habit, some being scientists has further expanded dehcate annuals, some prostrate the color range, so many species are now in cultiva- Richard E. alpine subshrubs, others upright represented Weaver, jr. herbaceous perenmals five feet tion by white, pink, nearly red, tall. And they grow under a vari- and bluish variants. ety of soil and hght conditions. In Most alpme phloxes are some- fact, there is a phlox for nearly what difficult to cultivate and are every garden situation. grown mostly by collectors and The flowers of most eastern specialty gardeners. Others are American species are what is very easy and therefore almost Phlox is one of America’s notable often referred to as "phlox- ubiquitous in cultivation. Phlox contributions to horticulture. Its purple." This rosy-purple color is subulata, the "moss pink" or

Phlox glabernma Photograph by Albert W. Bussewitz. A cluster ot Phlox carohna Photograph by the author. 26

An mflorescence of Phlox carolma. Photograph by the author.

"thrift" of the Southeast, turns banks a mass everywhere of pink,’ purple, or white in the early spring. A perennial border, no matter how small or simple, would not be complete without several cultivars of the summer phlox (P. pamculata/. And the blue phlox /P. dmancata) and the creeping phlox (P. stolom f era are standard components of the wildflower garden. But other, equally useful species are relatively rare in cul-’ tmation. I would like to concen- trate here on several primarily Southeastern species that I have come to know well since moving to North Carolina. Phlox amoena is one of our commonest roadside wildflowers during May, being so abundant in some areas that it ’Miss Lmgard’ Photograph by Gary L. Koller. appears to have been planted. It is 27

a low plant with decumbent Phlox carohna andP. glaber- gard’ does, but grows only to stems and upright, compact rima are similar and often con- about 30 inches tall. Its flowers inflorescences of 3/4-mch flowers. fused The former tends to be of are pure white with a purple eye. The flowers are normally a bright taller stature, however-three ’Rosahnde’rs the latest-blooming phlox-purple, but we have se- feet tall versus two feet - and and tallest of the three cultivars. lected the following forms: a often grows in shadier situations. Our plants were in full bloom m large-flowered white, a small- Both have long blooming seasons, late June, and they stood 55 flowered white, a blush pink, a starting in late June and extend- inches tall. The flowers are on pale blue-lavender with a darker mg into August, and overlap the the pink side of phlox-purple and star in the center, and a deep rose summer phlox for some of that borne in magnificent 12- to 15- with a purple eye. I find the nor- penod. The flowers are typically inch inflorescences. I have seen mal wild plant very attractive, phlox-purple, but those of P. reference to ’Alpha’, a clear- but for those who do not hke its carohna are extremely variable, pink-flowered cultivar, but un- color the abovementioned forms and we have selected some beau- fortunately have not yet been will soon be available. Phlox tiful bicolored forms. Unfortu- able to find a plant. amoena is easy to cultivate, nately, we have not yet found a It should be noted that there is thriving m a sunny, well-drained white-flowered form of either some confusion as to the species situation. It is a good plant for the species, but we will contmue our to which the abovementioned rockery, the front of the border, search. Both species are excellent cultivars belong. The authors of or those odd, small spots m the border plants, and P carohna is Hortus III consider at least ’Miss garden where a plant of low stat- also good m the shady garden. Lrngard’ to be a cultivar of P. ure is needed. Phlox maculata is one of the carolma. Some perhaps arose as The remaining species are all most outstanding species of interspecific hybrids. But with closely related: they are similar Phlox from a horticultural view- their speckled stems and cylin- to the summer phlox in many pomt. It differs from the preced- dncaJ inflorescences, they are ways but bloom earher than it ing three species m having certainly more like P. maculata does and have narrower leaves purple-speckled stems and nar- than any other species. In any that are highly resistant to the row, cylindrical mflorescences. event, they are first-rate garden powdery mildew, which can so The wild plant is quite garden- plants, thriving in full sun or par- badly disfigure P pamculatn. The worthy, but it is certainly over- tial shade. Our expenence has most distinctive of these species shadowed by three spectacular shown that they are taller and is P. ovata, the mountam phlox, cultivars. ’Miss Lmgard’ is the more vigorous if grown in moist native to rich forests and forest finest of these, is, in fact, one of soil. They seldom if ever need margms in the southern Ap- the very best of all border plants. staking the way cultivars of the palachian region. It is a Plants stand tall and stately summer phlox often do. stolomferous species, producing (about 50 inches m our garden) All of the above species are many sterile shoots and rela- and have not needed staking even available from dealers in tively few flowenng shoots; these with last summer’s torrential wildflowers. Most of the cul- latter seldom exceed 15 inches m rams. The flowers are pure white tivars of P. maculata (’Miss Lin- and borne m an mflorescence height. To me it is among the gard’ most reliably) are occasion- about a foot tall. were most beautiful of the phloxes, The plants ally listed by the standard peren- with its large flowers, pinker in full bloom by early June and nial growers. than m most species, appearing still blooming m early August; in and Be- there was a hiatus of late May early June. admittedly Richard E. Weaver, Jr , the former cause it is stolomferous and not a about two weeks in mid-July horticultural taxonomist at the profuse bloomer, P. ovata is a after the first, spent inflores- Arnold Arboretum, now operates plant for the wildflower garden cences were cut off. ’Reine du We-Du Nursenes m Marron, North rather than the perennial border. Jour’ blooms when ’Miss Lm- Carolma. BOOKS Mr. van Ravenswaay’s biography of Prestele is well drawn and well researched. Prestele was born and grew up in Germany; at 16 he was al- ready producing respectable work, although the coloring was heavy-handed and botanical details Drawn from Nature: The Botamcal Art of Joseph were glossed over or lacking. By the time he was Prestele and His Sons, by Charles van Ravens- 20, Prestele had been hired as staff artist for waay. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institu- the Royal Botanical Garden in Munich. It was a tion Press, 1984. 357 pages, 95 colored plates. and formative time, and his $45.00. productive drawings took on an accuracy and perception that indicate solid training in botany. His illustrations of the ANN HAYMOND ZWINGER common poisonous plants of Germany were known to Asa Gray. Of the four plates that Mr. Drawn from Nature: The Botanical Art of Joseph van Ravenswaay has chosen from this rare book Prestele and His Sons, is a magmficent publica- ~Die Wichtigsten Giftpflanzen Deutschlands), tion from the Smithsonian Press. Large m format, Comum maculatum, spotted hemlock, is my with a scholarly introduction, and more than half favorite for the delicacy of its execution. Two of it dedicated to full-page color illustrations, the stalks are portrayed m color; one shows the struc- book epitomizes the interest in botanical illustra- tion that has burgeoned m recent decades. When I first became mterested in drawing plants twenty years ago, the only available book with any his- toncal information was Wilfrid Blunt’s The Art of Botanical Illustration, first pubhshed m 1950 as one of the British "New Naturahst" series. Al- though fairly well Illustrated, the text was pedan- tic and scarcely deigned to mention any illus- trators working in the Umted States. Mr. van Ravenswaay’s book is informative as well as lovely to look at, and gives techmcal as well as historical information. The book’s ar- rangement furthers the reader’s enjoyment by having a brief comment, information on prove- nance, and, often, interesting sidelights placed op- posite each illustration. The appendixes make the book useful to the scholar, and its design, down to the endpapers, is both elegant and beautiful. Charles van Ravenswaay is well-qualified to write on botanical illustration, being the director ementus of the Henry Francis du Pont Winter- thur Museum and Gardens; he discovered Pre- stele when he bought a portfolio of engravings of Comum American trees, published by the Smithsonian m maculatum, spotted hemlock, from the plate by Joseph Prestele in Die Wichtigsten Giftpflanzen 1891. The quality of the work so attracted him Deutschlands (1843). The dehcate, uncolored leaf ap- that he set out to determine the illustrator. It was pears as a scarcely visible, ghostlike presence on the Joseph Prestele, one of the first in this country. nghthand side of the plate. 29

ture of the stem, the other the upper stem with florae amencae. Gray envisioned a ten-volume mtricate flower and seed heads. One entire leaf is set, but only two volumes were ever printed. left uncolored; the dreamlike precision of the Gray’s next great project, suggested by Profes- drawing unifies the two stalks, thus informs sor Joseph Henry at the Smithsonian, had a simi- without cluttering. lar fate. The Forest Trees of North Amenca, to be Although raised a Catholic, Prestele became published by the Smithsonian, came to an "em- mterested in a religious group called In- barrassing halt" because it was too expensive and spirationahsts, who settled first in upper New too ambitious; Gray and Henry evidently did not York State m the 1840s and later established the sufficiently understand the scope of the project. Amana Colomes in Iowa. Mr. van Ravenswaay Prestele’s work for Gray essentially terminated at discusses at some length how this constmcrive that pomt, but he continued to work for Torrey, communal life curtailed Prestele’s artistic out- who was m charge of the botanical illustrations put. for the western surveys. Prestele did all of the In 1844, a year after he moved to New York engravings of plants for the Pacific Railroad Sur- with the community, the elders allowed Prestele veys, pubhshed between 1853 and 1856. He illus- to begin work on wildflower illustrations. Since trated William H. Emory’s Report on the Umted he and his son Gottlieb couldn’t identify many of States and Mexican Boundary, as well as Charles the new plants, Prestele wrote to the premier Wilkes’ United States Explormg Expedition botamst of the United States, Asa Gray, to whom 1844-1874. (An appendix gives a complete listing he had an introduction. His letter appeared on of the illustrations, although none of them are Gray’s desk m January 1845, just when Gray reproduced in this book.) needed an engraver. Gray not only welcomed Pre- By the late 1840s Prestele was also rendering stele but mtroduced him to John Torrey. Both "nurserymen illustrations" that conveyed the de- botanists used Prestele’s services as an "engraver lights of various fruits. Between 1854 and 1860 he on stone," which involved using a techmque that made between 2,000 and 3,000 plates for the is not true engraving but which allows meticul- Mount Hope Nursery m Rochester, New York. ously fine renderings. Some of these are stunning in the virtuosity of Prestele was a capable and sensitive draftsman. their colonng and rendenng of surface texture: In his work for Gray and Torrey, he often en- the bloom on the ’Concord’ grape, the sheen of graved from the drawings of Isaac Sprague, a pro- ’White French Guigne’ chemes and the pattern of tege of Gray’s who worked directly from plants m their multiple stems, the blush on a ripe ’Late the botamc garden at Harvard. This collaboration Crawford’ peach, are monuments to the kmd of resulted in the illustrations for Gray’s Chlons fruit we used to have. The blemish on a ’Red boreali-americana, pubhshed m 1846. Prestele Astrachan’ apple provides the precise balance for engraved, printed, and hand-colored the prints. the dark seeds set m the white flesh of a cross Working with distant printers often caused him section. In these the design is charming, the bo- grief; about the plate of Gmllardia amblyodon, tanical knowledge definitive, the coloring mas- Prestele wrote to Gray: "In short, Dear Sir, I suf- terful. fered a great deal on account of seemg that I was As a means of describing plants to the public, unable to do Things Well for you." this meticulous and time-consuming botamcal This project was never completed, as the over- illustration was becoming outdated by the end of energetic Gray was off on a new tack, an ambi- Prestele’s life. Of the three sons who followed his tious undertakmg to pubhsh drawings of a single profession, only Gottheb, who remamed m the species of each genus of plants of the United Amana Colony, produced any volume of work. States. Prestele did 100 plates (for which he By the end of the nineteenth century color charged $2.50 each) for the first volume of Genera printing and, eventually, color photography were 30

developed, providing inexpenslve, mass-produced ous plants of this continent are either very old, illustrations. But they also, in a sense, robbed our extremely voluminous, highly technical, or generation of the precisely noted and carefully oriented pnmarily towards the veterinarian’s use. rendered illustrations that illuminated the previ- Pocket-sized, this book is easy to carry where one ous four centuries. Color photography can never needs to know what plants to avoid. It is illus- focus on and render telling detail as effectively as trated with simple line drawings for most of the a good drawing; nor can it include, in an aesthet- species and excellent color photographs of the ically pleasing way, several morphological details most frequently met species, and is wnttten in an on the same page. The monumental volumes on orderly, straightforward style. the flora of the United States, published by the The subject matter is orgamzed mto five parts New York Botanical Garden, illustrate this pomt: dealing in turn with plants that cause dermatitis, though extravagantly illustrated with photo- hallucinogens, home and garden poisons, toxic graphs, even they resorted to drawings to show wild plants, and poisonous mushrooms. The details. part on mushrooms is subdivided mto deadly or In all the kinds of botanical illustration, one potentially deadly species and species that stimu- thing has remained constant: the love of plants. late the parasympathetic nervous system. A simi- The most enduring quahty is the illustrator’s joy m lar order of presentation is followed for each the curve of leaf, the turn of petal, the celebration plant: a description; its distnbution and habitat; of growth. In almost any book of botanical illus- toxms and symptoms; first aid and medical trations one can find pleasure just in the looking. treatment. Historical or ethnobotamcal informa- But that pleasure is multiplied considerably when tion of general interest is frequently given. The the reproductions are elegantly presented on mtroduction gives an overview of the scope of the heavy coated paper, the colors true, and the text problem of poisonous plants, as well as practical engaging. mstructions for counteracting the effects of plant Mr. van Ravenswaay’s book is a labor of love. toxins. Like birders, people who love plants have a deep This book has been written after careful and and abiding devotion to their subject. This book extensive consideration of the latest literature, belongs m the library of anyone who en~oys bo- constant consultation with the Boston Poison tanical illustration enhanced by lively scholarly Center, and personal experience. One of its prime commentary and competent documentation. recommendations is its orientation towards human beings. is a well-known author and Ann Haymond Zwinger The authors, both professors at Boston Univer- artist who specializes in natural history subjects She is a the other a botanist), have coauthor (with Beatnce E. Willard) of Land Above the sity (one zoologist, had wide in New Aus- Trees A Guide to Amencan Alpme Tundra. experience Afnca, Zealand, tralia, Chile, Costa Rica, and Borneo.

A Field Guide to Poisonous Plants and Mush- rooms of North Amenca, by Charles Kingsley Trees of the Great Basm: A Natural History, by Levy and Richard B. Primack. Illustrated by L. L. Ronald M. Lanner. Drawings by C. Rasmuss. Meszoly and M. H. Primack. Brattleboro, Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1984. 217 Massachusetts: Vermont, and Lexington, Stephen pages. $19.50. Greene Press, 1984. 178 pages. $9.95 /soft cover). RICHARD EVANS SCHULTES RICHARD EVANS SCHULTES The author, an active field dendrologist of many Here is a definite, workable field guide to toxic years’ experience, has travelled widely and writ- plants of North America. Most works on poison- ten on trees of the Great Basin, the Amencan 31

Southwest, and the Rocky Mountains. This, his Each species considered is beautifully and sim- second book on the region, describes 47 native ply illustrated with a clear line drawing and a species-23 gymnosperms and 24 angiosperms superb color photograph. Several pages of derma- -and exammes their place m local ecology, tions of botanical terms make the volume even explonng the life histories of the trees and their more valuable to the nontechnical tree-lover. A relationships to animal life, including man, m the hst of 22 suggested readings is offered and a full area. Growth habits and requirements, tax- index of common and scientific names is ap- onomy, genetics, and, when pertinent, their pended. book the economic importance are discussed m a leisurely, This is a delightful and useful for readable, almost conversational style that does library of any scholar or amateur whose interests not lower itself to the common denommator of lie in this part of the American West. newspaper or magazine popular appeal. The attraction of this book is its suc- greatest single Richard Evans Schultes is Director of Harvard Umverst- cess in available much making information ty’s Botamcal Museum. His account of the impact that hitherto hidden m scientific or techmcal and the Para rubber tree has had on mankmd appeared m the difficult-to-obtain publications. Spnng 1984 issue of Arnoldia