THE GROWING OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS
THE CLASSES OF PLANTS, AND
LISTS - Continued
Among drooping or weeping trees the best may be found in the willows
(Salix Babylonica and others), maples (Wier's), birch, mulberry,
beech, ash, elm, cherry, poplar, mountain ash.
Purple-leaved varieties occur in the beech, maple, elm, oak, birch, and
others.
Yellow-leaved and tricolors occur in the maple, oak, poplar, elm, beech,
and other species.
Cut-leaved forms are found in birch, beech, maple, alder, oak, basswood,
and others.
List of hardy deciduous trees for the North.
(The genera are arranged alphabetically. Natives are marked by *; good
species for shade trees by †; those recommended by the Experiment
Station at Ottawa, Ontario, by DD)
In a number of the genera, the plants may be shrubby rather than
arboreus in some regions (see the Shrub list), as in acer (A. Ginnala,
A. spicatum), æsculus, betula (B. pumila), carpinus, castanea (C.
pumila), catalpa (C. ovata), cercis, magnolia (M. glauca
particularly), ostrya, prunus, pyrus, salix, sorbus.
Norway maple, Acer platanoides.(D, DD) One of the finest medium-sized
trees for single lawn specimens; there are several horticultural
varieties. Var. Schwedleri‡ is one of the best of purple-leaved
trees. The Norway maple droops too much and is too low-headed for
roadside planting.
Black sugar maple, A. nigrum.(A, DD) Darker and softer in aspect than
the ordinary sugar maple.
Sugar maple, A. saccharum.(A, DD) This and the last are among the very
best roadside trees.
Silver maple, A. saccharinum (A. dasycarpum).(A, DD) Desirable for
water-courses and for grouping; succeeds on both wet and dry lands.
Wier's cut-leaved silver maple, A. saccharinum var. Wieri.(D, DD)
Light and graceful; especially desirable for pleasure grounds.
Red, soft, or swamp maple, A. rubrum.* Valuable for its spring and
autumn colors, and for variety in grouping.
Sycamore maple, A. Pseudo-platanus. A slow grower, to be used mostly
as single specimens. Several horticultural varieties.
English maple, A. campestre. A good medium-sized tree of slow growth,
not hardy on our northern borders; see under Shrubs (p. 291).
Japan maple, A. palmatum (A. polymorphum). In many forms, useful for
small lawn specimens; does not grow above 10-20 ft.
Siberian maple, A. Ginnala.‡ Attractive as a lawn specimen when
grown as a bush; the autumn color is very bright; small tree or
big shrub.
Mountain maple, A. spicatum.* Very bright in autumn.
Box-elder, Acer Negundo (Negundo aceroides or fraxinifolium).*†
Very hardy and rapid growing; much used in the West as a windbreak, but
not strong in ornamental features.
Horse chestnut, Æsculus Hippocastanum.†‡ Useful for single
specimens and roadsides; many forms.
Buckeye, Æ. octandra (Æ. flava)*‡
Ohio buckeye, Æ. glabra*
Red buckeye, Æ. cornea (Æ. rubicunda).
Ailanthus, Ailanthus glandulosa. A rapid grower, with large pinnate
leaves; the staminate plant possesses a disagreeable odor when it
flowers; suckers badly; most useful as a shrub; see the same under
Shrubs (also Fig. 50).
Alder, Alnus glutinosa. The var. imperialis‡ is one of the best
cut-leaved small trees.
European birch, Betula alba.
Cut-leaved weeping birch, B. alba var. laciniata pendula.‡
American white birch, B. populifolia.*
Paper, or canoe birch, B. papyrifera.*
Cherry birch, B. lenta. *
Well-grown specimens resemble the sweet cherry; both this and the yellow
birch (B. lutea*) make attractive light-leaved trees; they are not
appreciated.
Hornbeam or blue beech, Carpinus Americana.* Chestnut, Castanea
saliva† and C. Americana.*†
Showy catalpa, Catalpa speciosa.†‡ Very dark, soft-foliaged tree
of small to medium size; showy in flower; for northern regions should be
raised from northern-grown seed.
Smaller catalpa, C. bignonioides.† Less showy than the last,
blooming a week or two later; less hardy.
Japanese catalpa, C. ovata (C. Kœmpferi).‡ In northern sections
often remains practically a bush.
Nettle-tree, Celtis occidentalis.*
Katsura-tree, Cercidiphyllum Japonicum.‡ A small or medium-sized
tree of very attractive foliage and habit.
Red-bud, or Judas-tree, Cercis Canadensis.* Produces a profusion of
rose-purple pea-like flowers before the leaves appear; foliage also
attractive.
Yellow-wood, or virgilia, Cladrastis tinctoria.* One of the finest
hardy flowering trees.
Beech, Fagus ferruginea.*† Specimens which are symmetrically
developed are among our best lawn trees; picturesque in winter.
European beech, F. sylvatica.† Many cultural forms, the
purple-leaved being everywhere known. There are excellent tricolored
varieties and weeping forms.
Black ash, Fraxinus nigra (F. sambucifolia).*† One of the best
of the light-leaved trees; does well on dry soils, although native to
swamps; not appreciated.
White ash, F. Americana.*†
European ash, F. excelsior.† There is a good weeping form of this.
Maiden-hair tree, Ginkgo biloba (Salisburia adiantifolia).‡ Very
odd and striking; to be used for single specimens or avenues.
Honey locust, Gleditschia triacanthos.*† Tree of striking habit,
with big branching thorns and very large pods; there is also a
thornless form.
Kentucky coffee-tree, Gymnocladus Canadensis.* Light and graceful;
unique in winter.
Bitternut, Hicoria minima (or Carya amara).* Much like black ash
in aspect; not appreciated.
Hickory, Hicoria ovata (or Carya) *†‡ and others.
Pecan, H. Pecan.*† Hardy in places as far north as New Jersey, and
reported still farther.
Butternut, Juglans cinerea.*
Walnut, J. nigra.*
Varnish-tree, Kœlreuteria paniculata. A medium-sized tree of good
character, producing a profusion of golden-yellow flowers in July;
should be better known.
European larch, Larix decidua (L. Europœa).‡
American larch or tamarack, L. Americana.*
Gum-tree, sweet gum, Liquidambar styraciflua.*† A good tree,
reaching as far north as Connecticut, and hardy in parts of western New
York although not growing large; foliage maple-like; a characteristic
tree of the South.
Tulip tree or whitewood, Liriodendron Tulipifera.*† Unique in
foliage and flower and deserving to be more planted.
Cucumber tree, Magnolia acuminata.*† Native in the Northern
states; excellent.
White bay-tree, M. glauca.*† Very attractive small tree, native
along the coast to Massachusetts; where not hardy, the young growth each
year is good.