The St. Vincent Botanic Garden-The Early Years

Richard A. Howard

Late in the eighteenth century, while France and Great Britain were vyingfor control of the sugar-rich Caribbean islands, the first program of plantintroductions in the British West Indies was instituted on the small islandof St. Vincent. The garden’s second superintendent-a master plantsmanand collector of more than 100 plants new to science-not only expandedthat program but also began propagating and distributing new discoveriesfrom around the world.

The peace treaty signed in Paris in 1763 endedfor a brief period the fighting between GreatBritain and France in the Caribbean. British gen-eral Robert Melville (1723-1809) was appointedgovernor of the southern British Caribees-Dominica, Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and theGrenadines-and made Grenada his headquar-ters. In June 1765 he visited St. Vincent anddiscussed with George Young, surgeon of themilitary hospital there, his plan for a botanicgarden, primarily to provide medicinal plantsfor the military as well as to improve the lifeand economy of the colony. Dr. Young agreedwith the proposal, and Melville ordered that sixacres of land previously designated for militaryuse be set aside for the garden, with Dr. Youngas the superintendent. This marked the begin-ning of the St. Vincent Botanic Garden, whicheventually expanded to twenty acres.The garden was to serve as a repository for all

useful plants that could grown on St. Vincentbut also, in contrast to the botanic gardens atKew, Oxford, Cambridge, and European botanicgardens at the time, as a nursery for plants tobe distributed around St. Vincent and to otherislands. Melville wrote to Young in 1766:

I need not repeat to you how desirous I am thatmy foundation of a botamcal plan entrusted toyour skill and perseverance should prove suc-

cessful, nor do I suppose it necessary that I giveyou fresh assurances how much my attentionsand support may be relied on, for already youknow my assistance shall be as great as my situ-

ation and multiplicity of public affairs will pos-sibly permit.... The articles of plants and seedscommissioned from the Main near Honduras Ishall soon hope to receive, and seeds of the bestcinnamon from Guadeloupe. If you have oncemade tolerable progress m raising useful andcurious plants, I should not despair of obtammgfrom Home encouragement in books, machmes,mstruments, etc., but till then I find I must haz-ard what expenses are unavoidable (as I have

already done~.... Pray get as much informationas possibly you can from all quarters relative tothe mdigenous medicines. It is against your craftbut would be highly beneficial to the public anddo yourself honour. And I should thmk for thispurpose physical practitioners of the country,natives of experience, and even old Canbs andslaves who have dealt in cures might be worthtaking notice of, and if at any time you shouldthink that a secret may be got at or even an

improvement for small expense, I shall readilypay for it.‘ ~ R,’a

In spite of Melville’s promises, the govern-ment in London did not fund the garden, andneither of Melville’s two successors as governor,Leybourne and Morris, was willing to assist inits maintenance. Nevertheless, by drawing on avariety of resources, Young was able to initiatethe first program of plant introduction in theBritish West Indies. The War Department andthe East India Company sent seeds and plantsfrom tropical India and from British NorthBorneo, Sabah, and Sarawak in the East Indies,and others may have come from French horti-

11 1

by the many tourists and those who use thelittle chapel nearby. Although the small lawnaround the giant is irrigated, this cannot replacethe loss in humidity. In 1994, major changeswere completed: the main road was diverted andthe formal park with paths and flowerbedsaround the trees extended. These have been

major steps forward but by no means enough tosecure the future of the giant in Oaxaca.

References

Alvarez, M. F. 1900. Las rumas de Mitla y la

arqmtectura Mexico Talleres de la EscuelaN. de Artes y Oficios para Hombres

Berry, E. W. 1923. Tree Ancestors. Baltimore: Wrlhamsand Wilkms.

Bolanos, J. N. (1857) 1900. El arbol de Santa Maria delTule. Boletin de la Sociedad Mexicana de

Geografia y Estadistica 5:363

Charnay, D 1863. Cites et Rumes Amencames Pans

Conzatti, C. 1921 Monograph on the Tree of SantaMaria del Tule, tr. Ralph Summers. Mexico :Imprenta Mundial.

Cuevas, A. S. 1992 El Arbol de Santa Maria del Tule:Illustraciones de la interpretacion de NuestraArbol de Santa Maria del Tule Ms.

Dorado, 0., et al 1990. The Arbol del Tule (Taxodiummucronatum Ten./ is a single geneticrndmrdual. Madrono 43~4/~ 445-452

Hall, G. W, G. M. Diggs, Jr., D. E. and P. S. Soltis. 1990.Genetic Uniformity of El Arbol del Tule (TheTule Tree/. Madrono 37: 1-5.

Harper, R M. 1902. Taxodium distichum and relatedspecies, with notes on some geological factors

mfluencmg their distribution. Bulletm of theTorrey Botamcal Club 29: 383-399.

Jimenez, V. 1990. El Arbol de el Tule en la Histona. Tule:CODEX.

Luque, E , E. Fuentes. 1923 El Ahuehuete o Sabino elArbol Nacional. Mexico Forestal 1(9-10)

Ortega, R. M 1884. El Gigante de la flora Mexicanao sea EI Sabio de Sta Mana del Tule La

Naturaleza (Mexico City) 6 110-114

Villasenor, A. 1892. El Arbol de Santa Maria del Tule enOaxaca. Mexico : D F.

Acknowledgments

Let us express our gratitude to Debra B. Folsom, researchbotanist at Huntington Botanical Garden, San Marino,California; Professor Boone Hallberg, Instituto

Tecnologico de Oaxaca; Peter Kane; J. L S. Keesmg,Living Collections Department, Kew; Kathy Musial,Curator, Huntmgton Botanic Garden; G. L. Tarbox,Brookgreen Gardens, Murrels Inlet, South Carolina ;Stephame and Kns Tebbutts; and Alicia Pesquema deEsesarte, Executive Secretary, Patronato Estatal dePromotores Voluntamos, Oaxaca, Mexico.

The authors are researchers, Dr. Debreczy with theMassachusetts-based International DendrologicalResearch Institute and Dr. Racz at the HungananMuseum of Natural History. They are working onthe Comferae (Gymnospermae/ volumes of their

dendrological atlas with original field research, photodocumentation, and connected conservation activity.For more information on their project, write IDRI Inc.,P.O Box 812910, Wellesley, MA 02181, U.S.A., or findthem on the WEB at http://world.std.com/-)egan/idri html.

To assist the group dedicated to saving El Arboldel Tule, contact Patronado Estatal de PromotoresVoluntamos, 604 Garcia Vigil Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca,Mexico.

10

A treasure of Chapultepec Park, the once beautiful giant, El Sargento (or El Centinela), died m the 1970s.

Like most of the massive bald cypresses that mtnessed the fall of the Aztec empme, it succumbed to the

rapidly changmg enmronment m and around Mexico City. The species-Taxodmm mucronatum, the Mexican,

or Montezuma, bald cypress- was voted National Tree of Mexico durmg the celebration of the centenary of

independence in 1910 0

9

However, the crown, the foliage, and the coneswere so strikingly uniform that we were doubt-ful of its multiple nature. Boone Hallberg of theInstituto Tecnologico de Oaxaca confirmed ourdoubts, noting that m the thirty years he hasbeen observing the tree, the timing of budding,the development and color of the leaves andstrobili, the shedding of pollen, as well as theleaf color after frost-all were the same. In con-trast, he had watched another tree growingalong a nearby stream, a fusion of two differentseedlings. The two trees were easily distin-guished by subtle differences in both morphol-ogy and phenology.To be three trees and one at the same time

implies the union of sprouts of the same tree.The Taxodiaceae, including the genusTaxodium, possesses the ability to sprout fromstumps following logging, as is often seen in thenorthern bald cypress, T. distichum, a very closeally of T. mucronatum. It is quite possible thatthe mdependent trunks that gradually "built"Arbol del Tule origmated as sprouts from thetrunk of a single damaged tree, or as layeredbranches from a tree whose single central trunkdied out, after which the layers grew and fusedtogether. The process by which the tree couldhave formed from several separate trunks hasbeen illustrated by biologist Angel Salas

Cuevas, using old descriptions, drawings, andphotographs as a basis. His proposed scenario forthe life history of the Tule tree from the appear-ance of the first tree, to its fusion with two of its

suckers, and finally its coalescence with a later,third sucker can be seen on the preceding page.

In 1990 (Hall et al.~, the results of enzymeanalysis of samples taken from eight major seg-ments of the tree provided undeniable evidenceto support the theory of a single specimen, andas such, one of the world’s largest trees in cir-cumference. These results were further sup-ported in 1996 (Dorado et al.) by evidence ofgenetic uniformity from DNA analysis. Thecompeting theories of multiple trees vs. a singletree were thus apparently resolved.

EpilogueBefore being leveled by the Europeans, the300,000-person Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, wasa large, well-organized city, a place of spectacu-

lar art, its market loaded with food brought fromXochimilco’s floating gardens through a densenetwork of canals. Reaching almost 5,500meters, the snow-covered peaks and rims of thesacred mountains, the Popocatepetl and hispartner, Iztaccihuatl, hung like floating crystalsabove the city. The graybearded ahuehueteswere revered and planted everywhere alongthe canals, including areas that were later incor-porated into the beautifully nurtured parksof Texcoco and Chapultepec. Some of theirbiggest trees were still with us only two orthree decades ago, and it sends a shiver up the

spine to think that the Aztecs once walked intheir shade.

Smog and especially the drop in water

table-pressures of a dramatically changingworld-finished Mexico City’s El Sargento inthe 1970s, as well as the famous Ahuehuete ofPopotla, the Arbol de la Noche Triste, and thebig tree near the temple of the Aztec kingNetzahualcoyotl in Texcoco. With a leaf surfaceof 9,300 square meters, the Tule tree has a tre-mendous evapotranspiration rate. It is enoughto look at the tree to see that something iswrong. Gone is the beauty of the light-greenfoliage drooping ten meters downward with nobranches visible beneath it, as it was seen just ahuman generation ago. The entire circumfer-ence of the tree, but particularly its southernside, is now full of twisted, skeletal branches.The tree has begun to decline, losing crown sizem response to the changing environment. Any-one who has ever dealt with conifers knows

exactly where this will end if the process is nothalted and reversed as soon as possible.

Just decades ago, in the 1950s, Oaxaca wasstill a peaceful town of 40,000 people: some-what provincial, with friendly merchants, silentstreets of colonial elegance, and mamly Zapotecand Mixtec vendors in the market. The city hasexpanded rapidly and is now ten times as large,and it is about to celebrate a half million inhab-itants. Water is used freely and El Tule’s watertable has dropped to its lowest level ever. Oncea citizen of the swamp with a root system devel-oped for a high water table and a crown adaptedto higher humidity, Arbol del Tule and its neigh-boring, smaller giants, the Son and Grandson,are now clearly suffering. The soil is compacted

8

and found a large enclosed place "which couldserve as a habitation in case of need." This obser-vation convinced him that the trunk belonged toone individual and that the divisions at the baseof the trunk, considered to stem from separatetrees, are only parts of a sole specimen.Another botanist, Casiano Conzatti, after a

year spent studying the tree, published his find-ings in a 1921 article entitled in its English trans-lation, "Monograph on the Tree of Santa Mariadel Tule." Conzatti drew on records from previ-ous writers-Desire Charnay (1863), ManuelOrtega Reyes (1884), and Manuel F. Alvarez

(1900) as well as Bolanos (1841) and Villasenor(1892~-to make comparisons. To get an idea ofthe growth rate of the species locally (withoutdamaging the venerable one), he correlated sizeand age of bald cypresses in the area by measur-ing trunk sizes and counting annual rings of cutbranches. He found that the species has a surpris-ingly fast growth rate, and that, as a rule ofthumb, the diameter of the trunk in centimetersis about half the age of the tree in years. Usingthis number in conjunction with an averagediameter of 8 meters (more than 26 feet) for theirregularly shaped trunk of the giant, his calcula-tions suggested that the tree was between 1,433and 1,600 years old (numbers which, interest-ingly, approach the planting time given in the leg-end of Pechoca).

Three or More, Yet One

Three trees, three genetically different organ-isms-as we stood before Arbol del Tule in 1990,the fusion of several trunks appeared plausible.

Biologist Angel Salas Cuevas proposed a scenario forthe hfe history of El Arbol del Tule. The young tree is

small and smgle. Its trunk is ~omed by a secondtrunk-a root sprout-about 2.5 meters (8 feet) awayWhen the thmd trunk appears, the omgmal tree andits two suckers form an almost eqmlateral tmangle.

After their fusion, the newly enlarged trunk, with itsdeep nbs along the fusion lines, takes on a cloverleafshape m cross section. These trunks become a smgle

trunk scored with deep furrows and gaps, and afourth trunk appears 3.5 meters (12 feet) away on the

east side. The greatest change, however, is yet tocome: the fourth trunk gradually 7oms the tmad. The

tree is now almost 5 meters (16 feet) m diameter,and the mam section qmckly expands to over 7.5 5

meters (25 feet) at its widest.

? 7

Ahuehuete gallery forest near Sola de Vega, Oaxaca Note the root system weavmg a protectme latticeon the mverbank. Instead of adaptation to anaerobic swamps, Taxodium mucronatum is adapted topemodically high mverbeds and mversides. The fantastic root systems grasp the nversides, fencmg themverbed with such ef ficiency they seem to be created for that purpose. At Sola de Vega, the most beautifulnverbed habitat of the species is still untouched, promdmg dramatic mews of trees 12 to IS meters (40 to50 feet) tall.

6 z

by E. W. Berry in 1923. An old legend among thelocal Zapotecs and Mixtecs tells us that the tree,along with several others nearby, was plantedfor the benefit of the people by Pecocha, a repre-sentative of the Aztec god of wind and storms,Ehecatl. This story puts the age of the tree ataround fourteen hundred years.

Estimates, to be correct, should consider thetree’s rate of growth, but in the case of the Tule

Some characteristics of Taxodmm mucronatum are strongly mfluencedby climate. The compound leaves are semipersistent the fohage of thepremous year detaches only when the new leaves unfold The southernspecies is less cold-hardy than its northern cousm, especially m suddenfrosts. When cultivated m areas where the winter temperatures fallbelow freezmg, most of the green fohage becomes yellowish brown andfalls, even on the trees of Tule.

In the Umted States, the Montezuma bald cypress grows wellthroughout the West and mostly below 30 degrees North latitude in theEast while it is easy to cultivate m the Mediterranean basm up to 40 to44 degrees North, and m western Europe, it survives far above thelatitude of 50 degrees North.

tree, another question has been raised throughthe past two centuries: is it a single tree or agroup of trees that have coalesced to form a

single individual? Although the tree is thoughtto have been visited by Alexander Humboldt onhis visit to Mexico m 1803, evidence suggeststhat he never reached Oaxaca and thereforenever visited the tree. However, he wrote in hisPolitical Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain:

In the village of Santa Mariadel Tule, three leagues fromthe capital, there is an

enormous sabmo (Cupressusdisticha [now Taxodium

mucronatum]), the trunk ofwhich is 36 meters [120 feet]in circumference. This oldtree is even more corpulentthan the cypress of Atlixcoof which we have spokenabove, than the Dragon treeof the Canary Isles andthan any of the baobabs(AdansomaJ of Afmca. But -

exammed closely, senor Anzahas observed that, that sabmo ’~ ,

which is such a surprise totravelers is not a smgle mdt-vidual but a group of threetrunks united ~II: 45-47).In 1892, Alejandra Villasenor

summed up nearly a century ofcontroversy:The trunk of the tree of SantaMaria del Tule, far from bemgcompact and almost cylindri-cal, is, on the contrary, rough-barked, unequal, and fissured,covered with senile excres-cences [burls], some of largesize, with bold projectionswhich made a certam Sr. Anza

suppose that it was not a

smgle tree but three united;but later observations by Dr. J.Bolanos in 1840 and by otherpeople have shown the errorof the supposition.

Botanist Juan Bolanosclimbed the tree to the pointwhere the common trunk endsand the primary branches begin

5

Taxodium mucronatum differs httle from its northern relative, T distichum. C. S. Sargent m his Silva ofNorth America (1896) wrote that "it may prove to be a mere geographical form of our tree " Others, hkeHarper m 1902, consider it a "Sonorized" form of the northern species. Except for its "knees," which areabsent or short and roundish, the differences he mostly m phenological characters: the growth of thesouthern tree is more compact; its cones are smaller and leaves shorter, often prumose gray ("bloomy")and semipersistent. These two old trees grow m the highlands near Oaxaca.

4

Although the tree is not particularlytall, it takes seventeen people withoutstretched arms to encircle its

gigantic trunk.Fascinated at first by its enormous

dimensions, we soon turned to thedetails of the tree. Each limb, tower-ing upward, could itself be an inde-pendent tree of huge size. Like agothic cathedral, arches rise abovearches as the limbs disappear intothe jungle of the crown 40 meters(130 feet) above, simultaneouslyreaching outward an incredible dis-tance. Dramatically fluted in out-line, the trunk has an air of mystery:sunlit ribs alternate with deeplyshadowed recesses that are partlycurtained by a veil of fine, light-green foliage. -:

The Inevitable Question ~A correlation between the ageand size of trees, at least within a

species, would seem logical: the big-ger the tree, typically the older it is.Seeing the almost 60-meter (200-foot) circumference of our giant, oneassumes that this tree must be thou-sands of years old. Poets, politicians,scientists, and the technically inge-nious have tried to answer the inevi-table question: how old is it?Estimates have varied; some havegone as high as three thousand years,as suggested by A. Villasenor in 1892,or even six thousand, as put forward

The giant tree dwarfs schoolboys andthe chapel of Santa Maria ahke m thesepostcards. The sign tells us that m 1987 7El Arbol del Tule was 41.85 meters (137 7feet) high, 57 9 meters (190 feet) mcmcumference, and 14.5 meters (48 feet)m diameter, with an estimated volumeof 816,829 cubic meters and a weight of636,107 tons. In 1992, our clmometermeasurement showed that the tree wasonly 39.40 meters (130 feet) high,which, assuming the data are correct,indicates an almost two-meter (seven-foot) decrease m height m five years.

El Arbol del Tule: The Ancient Giant of Oaxaca

Zsolt Debreczy and Istvan Racz

The famous tree that has puzzled travelers and botanists for hundreds of yearswith its legends now raises new questions about its future.

Outside the city of Oaxaca, on the ancient landsof the Mixtecs and Zapotecs in southern

Mexico, stands a tree, perhaps the most famousand most frequently measured among thegiants: a unique specimen of the fast-growingsouthern bald cypress, Taxodium mucronatum,known by the Aztecs as an ahuehuete, the"graybeard of the swamp." What "GeneralGrant" is to the giant sequoias, El Arbol delTule is to the bald cypresses.The Mexican bald cypress is a member of the

Taxodiaceae, the family of giant sequoias, Cali-fornia redwoods, and bald cypresses, which,excluding tropical species, has the greatestpotential of all tree families for achieving bothgreat age and enormous size. Amazingly, thisfamily of giants, like other conifers, is describedas primitive because of its elementary conduct-ing system of single-celled tracheids. In fact,this simple system can carry water and miner-als to heights over 110 meters (366 feet), evenunder extreme conditions such as those foundon the slopes of the Sierra Nevadas of westernNorth America, which remain dry for manymonths at a time, and those in the waterlogged,oxygen-deficient swamps, the habitat of Glyp-tostrobus of southeast China and Taxodium ofthe southeastern United States and Mexico.Taxodium mucronatum represents the south-ernmost species of the genus, which was oncefound all over the Northern Hemisphere but isnow restricted to North America.The giant tree grows in the town of El Tule,

little more than fifteen kilometers from the cityof Oaxaca, the capital of the southern Mexicanstate of the same name. The highlands where itis located, at an elevation of about 1,550 meters

El Arbol del Tule, near Oaxaca City, Mexico.

(5,100 feet), form a wide valley up in the Sierras.The area has only two distinct seasons: a humid,often cloudy, hot, rainy season typical of the"summer-rain tropics" south of the Tropic ofCancer, and a warm, dry "winter" season withbright sunny days, cool nights, and frequentfrosts in the mountains. Near the city, frost hasbeen reported only once a decade or so.At one time, the tree ruled over wide fields of

the brown-headed cattail-Typha domingensis,a close ally of T. latifolia of the north temperateregions of the world-called the tule in thenative Zapotec tongue. Today, instead of anextensive swamp supplied by such rivers as theAtoyac and its tributary, the (local) Rio Grande,flowing down from the nearby Sierra de Juarez,the tree is surrounded by a neatly maintainedlawn, colorful flowerbeds, and a wrought ironfence. The growing village of Tule has swal-lowed the swamp, its buildings and yardsgradually encircling it, forming a lethal noosearound it.

Our First Encounter

Having seen giant sequoias and redwoods inboth the higher Sierras and the Coast Ranges ofCalifornia, we were accustomed to the drama oflarge specimens. However, when engulfed bythe spreading arms of Arbol del Tule, we experi-enced a totally different degree of awe, notcomparable to anything we had previouslyencountered. While the big trees of Californiaare majestic, like the skyscrapers of downtownNew York they are out of reach. Arbol del Tuleis an accessible "seated giant," welcoming uswith broad, sweeping branches that extendalmost the length of two tennis courts.

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RACZ & DEBRECZY

·arno ~aVolume 57 Number 4 1997-1998

Arnoldia JISSN 004-2633; USPS 866-100) ispublished quarterly by the Arnold Arboretum ofHarvard University. Second-class postage paid atBoston, Massachusetts.

Subscriptions are $20.00 per calendar year domestic,$25 00 foreign, payable m advance. Most single copiesare $5 00. Remittances may be made m U.S. dollars,by check drawn on a U.S. bank; by mternationalmoney order; or by Visa or Mastercard. Send orders,remittances, change-of-address notices, and all othersubscription-related commumcations to: CirculationManager, Arnoldia, The Arnold Arboretum, 125Arborway, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130-3500.Telephone 617/524-1718; facsimile 617/524-1418;e-mail Arnoldia~arnarb.harvard.edu.

Postmaster: Send address changes toArnoldia Circulation ManagerThe Arnold Arboretum125 ArborwayJamaica Plain, MA 02130-3500

Karen Madsen, EditorAndy Wmther, Designer

Editonal Committee

Phyllis AndersenRobert E. CookPeter Del Tredici

Gary KollerStephen A. SpongbergKim E. Tnpp

Copyright © 1998. The President and Fellows ofHarvard College

Page2 El Arbol del Tule: The Ancient

Giant of OaxacaZsolt Debreczy and 7stvan Rjcz

12 The St. Vincent Botanic Garden-The Early YearsRichard A. Howard

22 Molecular Analysis: A New Look atUmbrella MagnoliasRichard B. Figlar

30 Principles of Taste: Book ReviewPhyllis Andersen

33 "Open to All Real Plant Lovers":Book Review

~

Judith Siporin

36 Arnold Arboretum Weather StationData-1997 .

37 Index to Arnoldia, Volume 57

Front cover: El Arbol del Tule, a venerable giant ofthe species Taxodmm mucronatum, the Mexicanbald cypress. Photograph by Racz & Debreczy.

Inside front cover: Magnolia tripetala, an Asianumbrella magnolia, in flower m Pomona, New York.Photograph by Richard B. Figlar.

Inside back cover: Magnoha macrophylla, the large-leaved cucumber tree, photographed at the ArnoldArboretum by Peter Del Tredici.

Back cover: A mature stand of Taxodiummucronatum, Just north of Sola de Vega, Oaxaca,Mexico. Photograph by Racz & Debreczy.

EI Arbol del Tule

13

culturists in the area. Smce by 1770Young had received only two plantsof the cinnamon promised byMelville, he traveled to Guadeloupehimself to obtain ten more; in 1771he obtained 1,200 seeds from a treein Grenada from which he grew anadditional 130 plants.

Proof of Young’s success in spite oflimited resources is found in a 1773

publication by John Ellis, an Englishbotanist with interests in the Carib-bean, entitled Some AdditionalObservations on the Method of Pre-serving Seeds from Foreign Parts,for the Benefit of our AmericanColonies, with an Account of theGarden at St. Vincent, under theCare of Dr. George Young (1773), inwhich Ellis states:

Dr. Young has favored me with acatalogue of what plants are nowgrowmg in this garden, and of theplants he has lately collected here tocarry out with him; which I take theliberty to insert, for the satisfactionof the public.

Ellis listed those plants and added,"Besides these articles, there are sev-eral without names that have beenraised from Chinese and otherseeds." A second list indicated those

plants Young would be able to getfrom the royal and other botanic gar-dens in and about London.s

In the same year, London’s Societyfor the Encouragement of Arts, Man-ufacture and Commerce awardedits Gold Medal to Young, "for the

Lithographs by Reverend LansdownGmldmg, 1824, from his Account ofthe Botamc Garden m the Island of

St. Vincent (1825J1. House of the Superintendent2. View of the Botanic Garden

St. Vincent, taken from theSupermtendent’s House

3. Botanic Garden, from thebottom of the Central Walk

14

Plants of the St. Vincent Botanic Garden, 1773The following plants were reported by John Ellis m 1773 as growing m the St. Vincent Botamc Gardendue to the efforts of Dr. Young. Over half are of reported medicinal value, reflecting Young’s service as aphysician to the military forces in the Caribbean.MEDICINAL PLANTS

safflower Carthamus tinctonaturmemc: Curcuma longa-an aromatic

stomachrc and hemostatic

scammony: Convolvulus scammoma-aresmous cathartic

,

colocynth: Citrullus colocynthis-a powerfulcathartic

simarouba. Simarouba amara, a source of

extremely bitter bark, used m treatmgmalaria a

spigela. Spigeha manlandicacitron Citrus medica, a source of candied

peel used for coughsbergament orange. Citrus bergamia, a source

of bergament oil, a substitute for mmtItalian senna’ Senna nahca-a strong

purgativealoes: Aloe vera-a healmg sap for treating

burnsbalsam capivi: Copalfera officmahs, a resm

valued in cough medicinesCassia fistula-a laxativeguaiacum~ Guaiacum officmale-a cure for

syphilis; also used as building materialChina root. Smilax chma, a medicine-an

alterative and diuretic

gum galbanum: Ferula galbimflua, a source ,

of resm used both medicmally and formcense

EDIBLES

cinnamon: Cinnamum vera, a spice,seasoning

East Indian mango: Mangifera mdica, a fruitrhubarb: Rheum rhaponticum, a vegetableTobago nutmeg’ Virola sunnamensis, a

South American relative of the true EastIndian nutmeg

coriander: Conander sativa, a fruit used forflavoring

vanelloes: Vamlla plamfoha, a tomc and flavoring m cookingnopal~ Opuntia cochmelhfera, an edible fruit, host plant for cochmeal msect -

sesamum : Sesamum mdicum, a source of cooking oil made from the seeddates’ Phoemx dactyhfera, a fruitannatto: Bixa orellana, a food or cosmetic coloring agentChina tallow tree: Sapmm sebiferum, a source of vegetable oil burned m candles

OTHER PLANTS

logwood: Haematoxylon campechianum, a dyepaper mulberry: Broussonetia papynfera, a source of bark fiber for tapa cloth or writing paperbamboo cane: Arundmana macrosperma, a bmldmg matemal used for furmture and construction

15 5

Botanic Garden, for superintending its cultiva-tion, and for relating the event of some trialsand proposing further attempts."Zo

The Garden Under French Administration

Early in 1778 hostilities between the French andthe English were renewed in the Caribbean. InJune of that year, when it became clear that theFrench would again occupy St. Vincent, Dr.Young was ordered by the chief of the Britishforces to move to St. Lucia to head the militaryhospital there. He left the botanic garden incharge of a Mr. Swartz (or Zwartz), who laterobtained a position as secretary to the com-manding officer of the French forces. Swartz wasto later claim that this officer had given himtitle to the garden.The French maintained the garden during

most of the five years that they held the island,but when they realized that it would be returnedto the British as part of the latest peace treaty,they abandoned the garden and it grew up inweeds. By the time Dr. Young was able to returnto St. Vincent in 1784, he was no longer inter-ested in resuming the directorship of theBotanic Garden, and with good reason: portionsof the garden had been given over to the cultiva-tion of cotton and tobacco by local people andthe remainder had deteriorated badly; Swartzwas pressing his dubious claim to the land, lead-ing to legal wrangles, and the military wasalso competmg to resume full control of the

land; and finally, the financial operations ofthe garden were no more secure than before thewar.’4 Young recommended that an acquain-tance from St. Lucia, Alexander Anderson, beappomted as his successor; his recommendationwas approved in 1785 by Sir Joseph Banks, act-ing in his capacity as scientific advisor to theking and liaison with the Royal Botanic Gardenat Kew.Unlike his predecessor, Anderson had the full

support not only of Banks and General Melville,but also of General Robert Adair, Inspector-General of the regimental hospitals, as well asthe War Department and the East India Com-pany. It was during the period of his administra-tion-1785 to 1811-that the garden made itsmost significant contribution to the world’sknowledge of tropical American botany.

The Botanic Garden Under the Managementof Alexander Anderson

Alexander Anderson was born in Aberdeen,Scotland, and studied for a period at the univer-sity in Edinburgh although he did not completethe work for a degree. He was employed brieflyat the Chelsea Physic Garden by a fellow nativeof Aberdeen, William Forsyth, at that time headgardener at the Physic Garden and later at St.James’s and Kensington Palace Gardens. In 1774Anderson went to New York to seek employ-ment as a gardener, taking up residence with hisbrother John, a printer.’ During this period hesent botanical specimens and seeds from LongIsland and York Island (now Manhattan) toForsyth. At the same time he listed other plantshe could send and asked for plants from Englandin exchange.

Being a loyalist, Anderson sailed for Surinamwhen the American revolution began, ratherthan be pressed into military service.’ By 1783he was on St. Lucia, employed as an orderly inthe military hospital then headed by Dr. Young.Young asked Anderson to search for local

The only known portrait of Alexander Anderson,engraved by Stephen H. Brelett from a drawing madeby Anderson’s nephew m 1798 m St Vincent.

From Benson J Lossmg, A Memorial ofAlexander Anderson M.D., The First Engraver onWood m America (New York, 1872) By permissionof Houghton Library, Harvard University

16 6

medicinal plants, particularly onethat could provide qumine for treat-ing malaria. One of the plants hefound, called quma, or china, wassent to London for testing and waseventually described and named asCinchona santaeluciae, a relative ofC. officinalis, the source of quinine,but although it tasted as bitter as qui-mne, it did not contain the cmchonaalkaloids and was eventually placedin the genus Exostoma.4,’sAnderson also traveled to other

British-held islands, with Dr. Youngor at his direction, and accompaniedYoung on his return to St. Vincent in1784. When Anderson became thefirst person known to climb theSoufriere of St. Vincent (at 4,048 feet,the highest peak on the island),Young realized that he was not onlyan experienced naturalist but anactive field man as well and recom-mended him as his successor in the

superintendency of the garden.2,’o," 1

Along with the formal notice ofhis appointment by Sir Joseph Banksand the War Department in 1785,Anderson received orders to submit alist of the plants then growing in theBotanic Garden and to report newintroductions or other developmentsat quarterly intervals, which he did,but if they were preserved, few havebeen located. In A Catalogue ofPlants in His Majesty’s Garden onthe Island of St. Vincent, dated June1, 1785, and now preserved in theBritish Museum (Natural History),Anderson listed at least 348 different

Anderson was first to climb St.Vincent’s Soufmere and to see the craterof this volcano. His report to the RoyalSociety was published in 1785, givingcredit to the wrong Anderson. Above ishis sketch of the volcano cmca 1780.Below is the author’s 1972 photo of thevolcano, which evaporated the lake andleft a residual cinder cone. Soufmerehas erupted once again since then.

17 7

kinds of plants, his heritage from Young, includ-ing all 31 plants of economic importance men-tioned by Ellis in his 1773 publication. The topportions of several pages of the manuscript werecharred in the World War II bombing of London,but it appears that Anderson categorized theplants as commercial, medicmal, esculent, orna-mental, or timber species. He is not known tohave made subsequent reports until around1800, when he compiled a manuscript entitledHortus St. Vincentii, which describes the plantsthen found in the garden. Each of its nearly2,000 taxa is identified not only by its Latin,English, and French names, but also, where pos-sible, by its Carib and "Negroe" names, showmgthat Anderson had fulfilled General Melville’sinstructions to Dr. Young by seeking out nativeplants. Each taxon is also given a description,along with data on propagation and culture aswell as uses and sources of the plants.9

Anderson was a prolific letter-writer, withvirtually a worldwide network of correspon-dents. Most extant correspondence was withWilliam Forsyth, but there are also letters to anassortment of others in England as well as in theUnited States, where his most important con-tact was William Hamilton of the Woodlands m

Philadelphia. Hamilton provided Anderson withmany plants of the eastern United States fortrial in St. Vincent and helped him establishexchanges as far away as Calcutta. Andersonalso had correspondents m the French islands ofthe Caribbean as well as m Jamaica, the Baha-mas, and Barbados, where his closest contactwas Governor Lord Seaforth (1801-1806). Heregularly sent plants to Seaforth for transship-ment to England, with the result that the intro-duction into Europe of many plants thatAnderson had obtained in the wild are creditedinstead to Lord Seaforth.’,3

First-day cover and postage stamps m commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the St. VincentBotanic Garden. The tahpot palm is shown here in flower, meanmg that it would die shortly after.

18 8

The Breadfruit Tree Arrives in St. Vincent

Great expectations were attached to the cargo of the H.M.S. Promdence. A Jamaican newspaperdeclared: "The introduction of the breadfruit into this island will constitute a remarkable era in its

annals. In less than twenty years, the chief article of sustenance for our negroes will be entirelychanged: -plantains, yams, cocos,cassava, will be cultivated only assubsidiary, and be used merely forchange; whilst the bread-fruit,gammg firm hold m the earth ...

will afford in the greatest abun-

dance, for nine months m the

year, the choicest and most whole-

some food." 19

The excitement that greetedthe ship’s arrival m St. Vincent isevident in Alexander Anderson’s

account.’° Imagme years of wait-

ing for the H.M.S. Bounty to

arrive, only to learn that a mutiny Breadfrmt, Artocarpus altilis.

had put an untimely end to the expedition; then, after months of uncertainty about the Providence,to have it suddenly appear, quickly unload the least healthy of the plants in its cargo, and departagain just as suddenly. Anderson’s account of the events shows an admirable willingness to put thebest light on what must have been a rather disappointing outcome to the affair.

About mne o’clock of night of the 23rd of January 1793 arrived m Kingstown Bay the longwish’d for Providence, Captain Bligh, from the South Seas with the breadfruit and other usefuland curious plants. The voyage was remarkably short and m every respect prosperous. Such anumber of live plants were never before seen on board a smgle ship. On her arrival she wasone of the most beautiful objects of the kmd it is possible to conceive. Such a number of liveplants of many different kmds brought from the remotest parts of the globe m such a state ofpreservation and carried through nearly all the climates of it was surprising to behold. Toomuch praise cannot be given to Captain Bligh for his great attentions to the chief object of hismission nor to the two young men who had the collecting and immediate management ofthem. Nor is it less surprising that the share of them allotted to the Garden have arrived tosuch perfection m so short a time in it. Some of the breadfruit plants began to produce fruit atthe end of eighteen months from their arrival. In two years and three months all the fifty plantsreserved m the Garden produced a large crop. This will appear the more surprising as the halfleft here were the smallest and the most sickly looking plants. The largest and most healthym appearance went to Jamaica. In this division there appeared partiality; however, I conceivedit ~ust and could not with propriety object to it, as there was still the risk by sea of ten or twelvedays passage from St. Vincent to it. Therefore necessary for the preservation, the weakest andthe most probable to suffer by continuing them in their confined situation should be landed assoon as possible, and I was confident that out of the number of 300 plants I should be able topreserve sufficient as a nursery for the Windward Islands.

19

Anderson collected not only on St. Vincentbut also in the other Lesser Antilles, the

Spanish Main, Trinidad, Tobago, and the

Guianas, sometimes traveling on the schoonerof William Lochhead of Antigua. 14 The garden’scollection was also augmented by plantsAnderson received from sea captains, from othergardeners, and from Kew. In return, as noted inits Garden Record Book, Kew received severalshipments from Anderson between 1787 and1798, of which the largest and best knownwas the one containing the breadfruit trees,Artocarpus altilis, brought by Captain WilliamBligh on his return from the Providence expedi-tion m 1793. ","

The Introduction of Breadfruit

Bligh had been a lieutenant on the first of Cap-tam James Cook’s expeditions to the Pacific in1768, the voyage on which Joseph Banks trav-eled as a naturalist. When Cook’s enthusiastic

report on the role of breadfruit in the diet of

Polynesians mduced planters in St. Vincent andJamaica to ask for breadfruit trees of their own,Banks persuaded King George III to order a col-lecting expedition and was instrumental inchoosing Bligh to command the Bounty." St.Vincent was to be the first stop for dropping offbreadfruit on the return trip, but the infamousmutiny occurred only a few days out of Tahiti,and the Bounty never reached St. Vincent.On the second attempt Bligh commanded the

H.M.S. Providence, with the armed brig Assis-tant, manned by twenty marines, as escort toprevent another mutiny. When the Providencearrived in St. Vincent in 1793, it carried about1,300 Polynesian plants, of which it left 559plants (including 331 breadfruit trees) for theBotanic Garden. Anderson noted that many ofthese were in poor condition; Bligh had kept thehealthiest for Jamaica and Kew. The arrival ofthe Providence caught Anderson unprepared,but he hastily potted 350 plants from his gardento send with it to Jamaica and Kew. As Blighwas preparing to leave Jamaica for England, hereceived orders to join a Honduras convoy.When he finally left Jamaica for England severalmonths later, he carried a large number ofplants, but the list of those delivered to theRoyal Gardens at Kew does not identify the ones

from Anderson and many were mistakenly cred-ited to the horticulturists at Jamaica.’6,’s,’9

In his Hortus St. Vincentii Andersondescribed eight varieties of breadfruit treesreceived from Bligh. He propagated these andother plants brought by the Providence, distrib-uting them throughout the Caribbean from theBahamas to Trinidad and the Guianas.

The Unpublished ManuscriptsIn addition to his work in the Botanic Gardenand his voluminous correspondence, Andersonalso made time to write a number of unpub-lished manuscripts; they are all now in thearchives of the Linnean Society of London. Twoof these have been transcribed by the authorand Elizabeth Howard and were published m1983. The St. Vincent Botamc Garden is the his-

tory of the early years of the development of thegarden, and The Geography and History of St.Vincent is a firsthand account of Anderson’stravels around the island.’3,’a Also of great inter-est to botanists and horticulturists are the

manuscripts that describe the plants of St.Vincent and the garden. Anderson may havehad two separate publications in mind: a FloraCanbbea as well as the Hortus St. Vmcentii

already mentioned. In many cases the plantnames used by Anderson differ from the modernnames: he named, but did not publish, plantsthat were new to him. This author has identi-fied most of the plants in the Hortus by theirmodern names and organized them into familiesand genera, aided in some cases by watercolorillustrations made by Anderson’s associate JohnTyley (which are now preserved at the LinneanSociety or, in a few cases, at the Hunt Institutefor Botamcal Documentation). Though as yetunpublished, this transcription may be usefulto botanists.The textual material of the Hortus, still

untranscribed, gives brief descriptions of eachplant as well as its origin or source. Many ofthe botanical specimens prepared by Andersonand shipped to Forsyth in London are now inthe herbaria of the British Museum (NaturalHistory) or the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.While it is often difficult to associate the

specimens with Anderson’s descriptions, theHortus remains valuable as the earliest record of

20

This temple houses a fountam m the form of an allamanda flower. Thegarden still mamtams many historical medicmal plants such as thesource of chaulmoogra oil, which is used in treating leprosy, and thehgnum mtae, long thought useful m treamg symptoms of syphihs Thecollection of palms is especially notable, and a new mventory is muchdesired. The garden’s largest breadfrmt trees represent three of thevameties introduced by Bhgh on the Providence. All are vegetativepropagations of an earher plant The ongmal supermtendent’s house isnow a museum that specializes m artifacts of the Cambs and othermdigenous groups.

plants introduced into cultivation in the BritishCaribbean.The last printed inventory of the plants in the

garden was one drawn up by Anderson in 1806and published in 1825 as part of the History ofthe St. Vincent Botanic Garden compiled by

the local chaplain, LansdownGuilding. It also included let-ters and other lists of plantsthat may have been among theAnderson manuscripts.8~’zAnderson died in St. Vincent

in 1811 and was succeeded fora short time by his friend andassociate William Lochhead,who died unexpectedly in 1815 5and was in turn succeeded in1816 by an Australian, GeorgeCaley. Caley’s tenure on St.Vincent was marked by hisconstant dissatisfaction with

everything on the island, _including the garden, and uponhis departure in 1822 the gar-den was returned to localadministration and began a

long decline.So great a wealth of plant

material has never again beenassembled in the American

tropics. Anderson was a masterplantsman, to be rememberedfor his dynamic program ofintroduction, propagation, anddistribution. He is commemo-rated in the names of one

genus-Andersonia of the

Epacridaceae was named forAlexander and two otherAndersons-and at least six spe-cies. However, although over100 of the plants he collectedwere new to science, none waspublished under the name heapplied to it; had the Hortusbeen published in his lifetime,many common plants of theCaribbean flora-perhaps as

many as 75-would now carrythe names he proposed. One

hopes that the botanical information in his man-uscripts and his records of plant introductionwill one day be salvaged and published as a trib-ute to this worthy man of science from the King’sBotanical Garden of St. Vincent, once the horti-cultural capital of the Western Hemisphere.

21

Literature Cited

I Anderson, Alexander. 1853. Letters.

Cottage Gardener 8: 59, 9: 417.

2 Anderson, James [mcorrectly, should beAlexander]. 1785. An account of MorneGaru, a mountain m the island of St.Vincent, with a description of thevolcano on its summit. PhilosophlcalTransactions of the Royal Society,London 15. 16-31.

3 Bmush Museum (Natural History). 1803Catalogue of Descnbed Plants m theBotamc Garden, Calcutta, with hst ofWest Indian and other plants sent toEngland by Lord Seaforth and othersaddressed to Lambert Archives AddMS 28610.

4 Bmtten, James. 1915. An overlookedCmchona Journal of Botany 53~ 137.

S Elhs, John. 1773. Some Additional Observations onthe Methods of Preservmg Seeds from Foreign Parts,for the Benefit of our American Colomes and with anAccount of the Garden at St Vincent Under the Careof Dr. George Young. London

6 Forsyth, William. Correspondence. Letters fromAlexander Anderson, 1775-1789 Royal BotamcGarden, Kew, Archives

7 Fothergill, Gerald. 1977 Emigrants from England,1773-1776 New England Historic GenealogicalSociety, Boston Reprint, Baltimore

8 Guildmg, L. 1825. An Account of the Botamc Gardenin the Island of St Vincent from its FirstEstabhshment to the Present Time GlasgowRichard Gnffm.

9 Howard, R. A. 1994 Eighteenth Century WestIndian Pharmaceuticals. Harvard Papers m Botany5 69-91

lo -- 1962. Volcamsm and vegetation in theLesser Antilles. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum43. 279-311.

i Howard, R. A., and K. S. Clausen. 1980. The Soufnereplant of St. Vincent. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum61. 765-770.

12 Howard, R A., and E. S Howard 1985. The ReverendLansdown Gmldmg, 1797-1831. Phytologia 58: 105-164.

13 , eds. 1983 Alexander Anderson’s Geographyand History of St Vmcent, West Indies Cambmdge~Harvard College, and London’ The Linnean Society.

Pamtmg bv John Tyley, protege ot Alexunder Anderson, ot tzmtssaid to have been mtroduced by the St. Vincent Botamc Garden.

14 ---, eds. 1983. Alexander Anderson’s The StVmcent Botamc Garden Cambridge : Harvard

College, and London: The Lmnean Society.

15 Kentish, Richard. 1784. Experiments and Obser-vations on a New Species of Bark Shewmg its Greatm Very Small Doses, also a Comparauve View of thePowers of the Red and Qmlled Bark, Bemg anAttempt Towards a General Analysis and

Compendious History of the Valuable Genus ofCmchona, or the Peruman Bark London.

16 Kew Record Book 1793-1806. Pages 115-123. RoyalBotanic Garden, Kew, Archives.

17 Mackay, D 1974 Banks, Bligh and the Breadfruit.New Zealand journal of History 8/1~: G1-77.

18 Powell, D. 1972. The Botanic Garden, Liguanea.Bulletm of the Institute of jamaica Science 15/1/: (:1-94

19 -- . 1973. The Voyage of the Plant Nursery,H.M S Promdence, 1791-1793 Bulletin of theInstitute of Jamaica Science 15/2/: 1-70.

zo Premiums offered by the Society instituted at Londonfor the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers andCommerce, London 1775.

Professor of Dendrology, Ememtus, Harvard University,and former director of the Arnold Arboretum, DrRichard A. Howard is the author of the six-volumeFlora of the Lesser Antilles

An earher version of this article was pubhshed inHarvard Papers m Botany / 199G~ 8: 7-14.

Molecular Analysis: A New Look atUmbrella MagnoliasRichard B. Figlar

Taxonomists have long beenfrustrated in their attempts todecipher the complex evolu-tionary relationships withinthe genus Magnolia. Recentmolecular research has shednew light on the problem andhelped to clarify the long-standing confusion.

The magnolias of section Rytido-spermum-one of sixteen categoriesthat subdivide the 128 species of thegenus Magnolia-have always beenan intensely interesting group, notonly for their large flowers and enor-mous whorled leaves, but becauseseveral species occur in both easternAsia and eastern North America.Within the genus, this intercontinen-tal distribution is shared only withsection Tuhpastrum, but in that casethe two species involved, our nativecucumber tree, Magnolia acumi-nata, and M. liliiflora, the famousMulan magnolia from China, sharefew characteristics beyond the samenumber of chromosomes and the

presence of reduced outer tepals.The Rytidospermum section,

according to most taxonomists,consists of six species: Magnoliatripetala, the umbrella magnolia; M. ;fraseri, the mountain magnolia; M.macrophylla, the big-leaf magnolia;M. obovata (M. hypoleuca), M.

officinalis, and M. rostrata-the first ’three native to southeastern Umted

‘

States into Mexico and the latter .

three native to eastern Asia, from the

These three closely related magnolras share large, whorled leaves,rangmg from a foot to two feet m length, and large, white flowerswith diameters m the range of six to twelve mches. The flowers,which open after the leaves have developed, are strongly scented,Magnolia tnpetala, above, unpleasantly so. A natme of theAllegheny region of the eastern Umted States, it seldom exceedsforty feet and is uncommon both m the mld and m cultivation.

At top mght Is the Japanese Magnolia obovata. It grows toeighty feet m its native damp, mch, highland forests, and is one ofthe hardiest Asian magnohas (zones 6 to 9). Its shghtly less hardyChmese sister, M. officinalis var. biloba, at bottom right, alsogrows at altitudes from 2,000 to 5,500 feet, and achieves heightsup to seventy feet. Its bark is so highly valued as medicine thatthe tree has been nearly extmpated m its native provmces of Hubeiand Sichuan

23

24

Like other members of the subgenus Magnolia (one of three withinthe genus), the frmts of M. tripetala tend to be bmght red andshowy They persist for several weeks in late summer.

Kurile Islands and Japan westward to southwestChina. Among the various morphological char-acteristics shared by members of this group, themost distinctive are the enormous whorls ofdeciduous leaves, which are crowded m parasolfashion at the ends of the branches. For thisreason, the Rytidospermum magnolias are

often referred to as umbrella trees. Indeed, to theuninitiated, the first impression of these plantsis often more reminiscent of the houseplantknown as the umbrella tree-the giant tropicalSchefflera-than it is of a Magnoha. However,unlike Schefflera, whose compound leaves

represent true whorls, the leavesof Rytidospermum magnolias arearranged in false whorls; that is, theindividual leaves actually emerge inalternate fashion but with very littlestem growth (internodes) betweensuccessive leaves.The pattern of many leaves emerg-

ing almost simultaneously is calledflushmg. Apparently, Rytidosper-mum magnolias adapted this flush-type leaf-emergence pattern in orderto compete effectively in the gaps offorest understory during early spring.By producing more leaves more orless simultaneously, such plants arebetter able to compete with otherspecies for scarce sunlight. And sincelittle stem growth is produced, theprocess itself is very energy efficient.Later in the spring, the growthreverts to the more typical pattern,where leaves are produced one at atime along longer stem shoots, as inother magnolias. Flush-type leaf-emergence patterns are common in

many other plant species of the

understory; for instance, some ofthe deciduous azaleas, althoughbecause of their much smaller

leaves, the umbrella effect is lessnoticeable than in the Rytidosper-mum magnolias.2

Clearly, among the magnolias thistrait is unique, and for that reasontaxonomists have suggested that,despite their intercontinental distri-

bution, they all form a natural group and shouldbe very closely related. This provokes severalquestions. Did today’s species evolve from acommon ancestor? If so, how and when did itsdescendants cross the Pacific Ocean? Which oneof the North American species is the mostclosely related to its Asian counterpart(s)?Using modern molecular systematics,

researchers Yin-Long Qiu, Clifford Parks, andMark Chase analyzed the chloroplast DNA(cpDNA) of all section Rytidospermum species.(CpDNA is the part of the DNA chromosomethat is reponsible for photosynthesis. ~ By com-

25

paring the differences in the cpDNA of thevarious species, they were able to quantify theamount of evolutionary change, measured asmolecular divergence, that had taken placebetween them. The underlying assumption ortheory in this method is that the amount ofgenetic difference is proportional to the amountof time elapsed since the species diverged fromtheir common ancestor, relative to other pairsor groups of organisms being compared. Theresults of the study team were published in twoseparate papers in the American Journal ofBotany, both in 1995. This article attempts tosummarize the findings of these researchers andto interpret how molecular data, when used inconjunction with traditional morphologicalstudies, can lead to better understanding of theevolutionary relationships among plants. Noattempt will be made in this article to decodethe complexities of their analytic techniques,the details of which are treated in the studyteam’s original papers.4-s

CpDNA Restriction Site AnalysisQui, Parks, and Chase used three differentlaboratory techniques to assess the divergenceamong Magnolia obovata, M. tripetala, M.fraseri, M. macrophylla, and M. officmalisvar. biloba (a variety of M. officmalis withnotched or bilobed leaves; shown in the tablesas M. biloba). The first method, cpDNA restric-tion site analysis, randomly samples changes

TABLE 1

(between all combmations of pairs of species)over the entire chloroplast genome. The analy-sis counts the number of site changes encoun-tered, then calculates the cpDNA sequencedivergence (as a percentage of sequence diver-gence/ between all species pairs. The results areshown in Table 1.This analysis clearly shows that Magnolia

tripetala from eastern North America hasdiverged far less from the Asian species M.obovata and M. officinalis var. biloba than ithas from other North American species. It alsoindicates that the other North American specieshave diverged just as much from each other(including M. tripetala) as they have from thetwo Asian species.

Allozyme ElectrophoresisThe study team used a second method, allo-zyme electrophoresis, to examine genetic varia-tion of enzyme-coding genes. This analysisresults in the calculation of a parameter calledNei’s unbiased genetic identity for each of thespecies pairings. The numbers are from zero toone, with one being a perfect genetic match.One of the authors, Clifford Parks, suggests thatas a rule of thumb, readings greater than 0.90suggest populations of the same species, whilereadings less than 0.67 indicate distinctly differ-ent species. The results can be seen in Table 2.Though not shown in the table, it should also benoted that Nei’s genetic identity for mtraspe-

TABLE 2

26

cific comparisons was nearly 1.000, as wouldbe expected: the values ranged from 0.993 forM. obovata vs. M. obovata to 0.932 for M.

macrophylla vs. M. macrophylla.The results of this second method almost

mirror the results of the restriction site analysis,giving very strong evidence of a close relation-ship between Magnolia tripetala and the Asianspecies and relatively distant relationshipsamong the rest of the species. It is interestingto note that in both analyses the relationshipbetween M. fraseri and M. macrophylla isthe most distant of any of the pairs. Iromcally,some texts on North American trees referto these two species as closely related onaccount of their similar auriculate (earlobe-shaped) leaf bases.

Chloroplast Gene rbcL SequencingFinally, the study team compared lltripetala, M. macrophylla, and M.obovata to each other by analyzing(i.e., sequencing) a specific segmentof the chloroplast gene called rbcL.This analysis involves comparing the1,432 base pairs of the rbcL gene foreach pair of species in the analysis,which in this case is three (M.macrophylla vs. M. obovata, M.macrophylla vs. M. tripetala, andM. obovata vs. M. tripetala). Theresults, once again, confirm the find-ings of the first two analyses, whichsuggest that M. tripetala and thetwo Asian species form a clade, or"sister group." In fact, the sequenc-ing of the chloroplast gene rbcLyielded no divergence between M.tripetala and M. obovata for thatportion of the DNA strand.The researchers believe that since

the results from all three methodshave yielded the same pattern ofdivergence, they can be consideredreliable for determining divergenceamong those Magnoha species. Theyemphasize that "the molecular

divergence between M. tripetala andits Asian sister taxa, M. officin-alis var. biloba and M. obovata, is

extremely low-the lowest divergence everreported for any eastern Asia-eastern NorthAmerica disjunct taxa." For example, the

sequence divergence over the entire chloro-plast genome (cpDNA) between Limodendrontulipifera and L. chinense was found to be 1.24percent (as compared to 0.083 percent betweenM. obovata and M. tripetala/,3 which is a

remarkable difference in that many taxonomists

long considered both Liriodendron taxa to bevarieties of the same species.The study team speculated how and when

Magnolia tripetala and its sister species becameseparated from their common ancestor. Onehypothesis is that the common ancestor couldhave migrated between the contments via theBering land bridge during one of the earth’swarm periods in the middle Miocene (17 to 15million years before the present) or earlyPliocene (6 to 5 million years before the

TABLE 3

The shared earlobe-shaped bases of their leaves notmthstandmg,molecular analysis has shown that Magnolia macrophylla and,seen here, M. frasen are the most distantly related of themagnohas of section Rytidospermum.

27

Molecular analysis of Magnolia macrophylla var macrophylla (above) and M. macrophylla var ashen(below) revealed no differences between the two vametzes, despite the greater size of the vanetymacrophylla, which attains sixty feet, as compared to that of vanety ashen, at twenty-five feet

28

Above are thc .«. ~ , , o~ Magnolia frasem raz fiasem, and belov~, those ofM. frasen var pyramidata. Molecular analysis of these taxa revealed verylittle separation between them

present). Perhaps the answer will come fromfossil evidence.3

_ _

Expanding the Scope of the StudyIn a second paper, Qui, Chase, and Parksexpanded their phylogenetic study to includerestriction site analyses of many pairs of

magnoliaceous species, including Magnoliaofficinalis var. officinalis, M. rostrata, M.

macrophylla var. ashei, M. macrophylla var.dealbata, M. fraseri var. dealbata, M. fraseri var.pyramidata, as well as many others. One resultwas an extension of the sister relationship

among M. tripetala and theAsian M. of ficmalis var. bilobaand M. obovata to includeM. officmalis var. officinalisand M. rostrata in the group.Summaries of other findingsfollow:

(1) Though Magnolia of ficm-alis var. officinalis and M.

officinalis var. biloba are

closely related and part of a sis-ter group, they are separated byfour restriction site changes,whereas only one restrictionsite change separated M.

officinalis var. officmalis andM. rostrata. This suggested tothe team that "full species sta-tus for M. officinalis var. bilobais justifiable," but since delin-eation of a species depends onexamination of samples fromacross a plant’s entire range,they recommend a detailed

study of wild populations of allfour Asian taxa before any deci-sion is made.

(2) Only one restriction sitechange separated Magnoliamacrophylla var. dealbata andM. macrophylla var. ashei, andno change was found betweenthese two and M. macrophyllavar. macrophylla. In this, thestudy team agrees with the1979 judgment of botanist

Dorothy Johnson Callaway’and rejects species status for the varietiesdealbata and ashel.

(3) Similarly, the team rejects species statusfor Magnolia fraseri var. pyramidata since theyfound only one restriction site change betweenit and M. fraseri var. fraseri. Also, separateallozyme profiles established in an earlier studyof wild populations of M. fraseri at low eleva-tions in north Georgia indicated that thoseplants were intermediate between the varietiesfraseri and pyramidata. 6

For some, the ma~or finding of this work-thesister relationship between Magnolia tripetala

29

and the Asian species (especially M. obovata),comes as no surprise, smce these three are the

only species that share grooved seed coats(the name Rytidospermum means "wrinkledseed") and are highly compatible when cross-pollinated. Phil Savage, an experienced magno-lia breeder, has found that of the many crosseshe has made between species within sectionRytidospermum, only those within the sistergroup were vigorous, worthy hybrids. In fact,where M. tripetala grows in close proximity toM. obovata, there have been many cases ofputative hybrids occurring spontaneously.8-9Other crosses made by Savage-M. tripetala xM. fraseri, M. obovata x M. macrophylla,M. tripetala x M. macrophylla, and M.obovata x M. fraseri-generally producedsmaller leaves and flowers than their parents,and all lacked vigor.

Other affinities have been addressed using dif-ferent morphological characters. Savage specu-lated that Magnolia obovata and M. fraseri maybe closely related because of their long-beaked,carpelled fruit, which are nearly identical.’Some have agreed with that point of view,but others have argued that because all

Rytidospermum magnolias share a very strikingmorphological feature-the false whorls ofleaves produced at the branch tips-they allmust be closely related. However, since molecu-lar analysis suggests a close relationship for onlyMagnoha tripetala and its Asian sister species,perhaps the responsibility for the similar falsewhorls produced by M. fraseri and M. macro-phylla as well as the similarities in the fruit ofM. fraseri and M. obovata lies in convergentevolution-that is, similar characteristics

may have developed in unrelated, or distantlyrelated, plants as each responds to similarconditions.Molecular analysis as a taxonomic tool is still

relatively new, and it brings with it the allure ofresults that can be stated in precise numbers.But taxonomy is far from a cut-and-dried proce-dure : no matter how many characters are exam-ined and how much evidence is marshalled in

support of a particular position, a taxonomicdecision is always a judgment call. As the casewith Magnolia demonstrates, molecular analy-sis does promise to help distinguish similarities

that result from genetic affinity between speciesfrom those that merely reflect similar responsesto similar environmental variables, such as cli-mate. But lest false hope be raised, be warnedthat molecular analysis will not resolve thearguments among taxonomists, nor, certainly,does it offer respite from the frequent namechanges that have become such a predictablepart of botanical taxonomy.

Literature Cited

1 Johnson [Callaway], D. L. 1989. Nomenclatural

changes in Magnolia Baileya 23~1]: 55-56.2 Kikuzawa, L 1989. Development and survival ofleaves in Magnoha obovata in a deciduousbroadleaved forest in Hokkaido, northern Japan.Canadian Journal of Botany 65(2) 412-417.

3 Parks, C. R., and J. F. Wendel 1990. Molecular

divergence between Asian and North Americanspecies of Lmodendron (Magnohaceae/ with

implications for interpretation of fossil floras.American Journal of Botany 77: 1243-1256.

° Qm, Y.-L., M. W. Chase, and C. R. Parks. 1995 Achloroplast DNA phylogenetic study of the easternAsia-eastern North America disjunct section

Ryudospermum of Magnoha (Magnoliaceae].American Journal of Botany 82: 1582-1588.

5 Qm, Y.-L., C. R. Parks, M. W. Chase. 1995. Moleculardivergence in the eastern Asia-eastern NorthAmerica disjunct section Rytidospermum of

Magnoha (Magnoliaceae) American Journal ofBotany 82: 1589-1598

~ Qm, Y.-L., and C. R. Parks. 1994. Disparity ofallozyme variation levels in three Magnoha(Magnoliaceae) species from the southeastern UmtedStates. Amemcan Journal of Botany 81. 1300-1308

7 Savage, P. J. 1976. Sights and scents among the hardyumbrella trees. Journal of the Magnoha Society7/ 1 14-17.

8 Spongberg, S. A., and R W. Weaver 1981 ’SilverParasol’: A new magnolia cultivar. Arnoldia 41~2/:70-77.

9 Vasak, V. 1973 Magnoha hypoleuca m nature andin cultivation. Journal of the Magnolia Society9~ 1 3-6.

Richard Figlar, a past president of the Magnolia Society,has been studying and collecting magnolias for 25years. He grows more than 125 taxa in his personalarboretum in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountamsof South Carolina.

Principles of Taste: Book Review

Phyllis Andersen

Accents as Well as Broad Effects: Writings onArchitecture, Landscape, and the Environment1876-1925. Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer.Selected and edited by David Gebhard. Berkeley:University of California Press, 1996. Hardcover,367 pages.

With the advantage of hindsight, it might be_

said that Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer(1851-1934) led a life of quiet contradiction. Shewas a noted writer on art, architecture, andlandscape subjects; the first biographer of HenryHobson Richardson and Frederick LawOlmsted.’ She was thoroughly professional inher work, precise in her negotiations for a properfee, and never hesitant to ask for timely pay-ment. She was a friend of Charles SpragueSargent and a valued contributor to his weekly,Garden and Forest. Yet Mariana Van Rensselaerwas an active opponent of women’s suffrage andwrote a popular pamphlet on that subject,"Should We Ask for the Suffrage?" (1894). Heranswer was no, women should concentrate ontheir families and on educational and mtellec-tual matters, leaving business and public affairsto men. Perhaps this was a comment on thepolitics of her day; to be fair, she was also con-cerned that new money interests would exploitworking women who would be unable to defendthemselves.

Until the publication of this collection of herwritings, Van Rensselaer’s work had fallen intorelative obscurity. With the exception of herbiography of H. H. Richardson, to which subse-quent generations of Richardson scholars invari-ably pay homage, her work has been treated asthat of a rather quaint lady writer who presentedto the world the ideas of designers, whom shestrongly promoted as "artists." As evidenced bythis collection, her work is much richer thanthat, more nuanced and original. If VanRensselaer’s work has not been given moreprominence, it may be because of her commit-

ment to the explication of taste, that illusivepredilection for form (and fashion) tightly boundto social class that is just now engaging theattention of the academic community. In theworld of serious critical writing, the consider-ation of taste has often been treated in a patron-izing, if not outright contemptuous, manner.But if in popular literature the issue of taste hasnow become the domain of Martha Stewart andthe shelter magazines, it has also become theterritory of serious critical battle: Susan Sontagon kitsch, Martha Schwartz on the viability ofbagels as garden ornament, and any number ofwriters on the sociological implications of well-clipped suburban lawns vs. their treatment aswildflower meadows.

Insofar as a concern with good taste is a char-acteristic of the upper middle class-since boththe aristocracy and working class can affordto indulge eccentricity-Van Rensselaer wasspeaking for a world she knew well. But herwriting on taste went well beyond the properand the decorous to encompass appropriatenessas well. Included in this collection is an impor-tant essay, "Architectural Fitness," first pub-lished in Garden and Forest in 1891 (some sayat the instigation of Charles Sargent). Her reflec-tion on the quality of stonework and boulders inCentral Park and Franklin Park predates themodernist dictum of "truth to materials" but iscertainly on the same intellectual path.Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer was born in

New York City in 1851 to parents well posi-tioned socially and financially to give her abroad, sophisticated education, albeit by privatetutor and extensive European travel. The familyrelocated to Dresden, Germany, when Marianawas still in her teens, and it was there that shemet and married Schuyler Van Rensselaer, ayoung mining engineer and scion of the greatNew York family. The couple returned to theUnited States where their only child, George,was born. Sadly, Schuyler Van Rensselaer died

31

in 1884, followed by their young son only eightyears later, and Mariana found herself alone atthe age of forty-three. While she had begun towrite for publication during the years of hermarriage-an activity not wholly supported byher husband-she now recast her life to includeserious scholarship and travel in order to furtherher writing career.Van Rensselaer’s position in American land-

scape history is firmly established by her 1893book, Art Out-of-Doors: Hints on Good Taste inGardening. With this publication she emphati-cally aligned herself with the naturalistic/pasto-ral landscape movement led by Frederick LawOlmsted, supported by Sargent and with a debtto Andrew Jackson Dowmng.

I have assumed that the naturalistic methods of

gardening are the most mteresting and impor-tant to Americans ... for nature speaks to usmore variously and naturally m America than mEurope .2

The enemy here was the ornamental style ofgardening. The promulgators of carpet bedding("ugly things of which no sensitive eye canapprove") had a strong voice in both public andresidential horticulture. The use in public parksof bold-colored plants arrayed in tight, highlyorganized groups, with no respect for theirnatural form let alone their natural habitat, wasbeloved by the public, who borrowed thesepatterns for their home gardens. Beds of geram-ums, coleus, lantanas, heliotropes-any plantsthat could be manipulated either by the designeror the hybridizer to take on a brighter hue-were filling the great lawns of Newport, thevillage squares in New England, and, to VanRensselaer’s great dismay, Boston’s PublicGarden.

Our public has seen too few good examples toknow, theoretically, what it likes in the way ofgardening art. Naturally it likes flowers andbnght-hued plants of all kmds. When it seesthem as they are shown in the Public Garden, itdelights m them for their own sakes while itrarely thmks of the general effect of the place.But if it could once see this place as it ought tolook, softly green and quiet, enlivened but notconfused by a few touches of brilliant color, I amsure it would recognize the improvement, andnot mourn the scores of vanished beds 3

Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer m 1927.

Van Rensselaer’s biographical essay on

Olmsted, originally published in Century Maga-zme in 1893, and included here in its entirety,offers a much more vivid picture of the manthan many later works. Suspicious of personalpublicity and certainly not garrulous by nature,Olmsted nonetheless met with and maintaineda vigorous correspondence with Van Rensselaer,providing her with rich material for her article.

In answer to a question asked not long ago, Mr.Olmsted said, "The most mterestmg generalfacts of my life seems to me to be that it was notas a gardener, a flomst, a botanist, or one manyway specially mterested m plants and flowers, orspecially susceptible to their beauty, that I wasdrawn to my work. The root of all my work hasbeen an early respect for an enjoyment of a moredomestic order-scenery which is to be lookedupon contemplatively, and is productive of mus-ing moods.’ .4

The late David Gebhard, a noted architecturalhistorian, has done a great service in editing thiscollection. His introduction surveys her life andgives her work a new importance in Americandesign history, although in the space of an intro-

32

duction he was not able to delve deeply into theintellectual roots of her work. It is a minor criti-cism to say that he uses that oddly speculativemanner of biographical writing that relies on"she must have...," "expected of upper middleclass women," etc. The collection is dividedinto three sections: Architecture and the Deco-rative Arts, Recent Architecture in America,and Landscape Architecture and the Environ-ment ; while heavily slanted to her writings onarchitecture-perhaps a reflection of Gebhard’sinterests-her writings on the context of archi-tectural practice transcend specific disciplines.Architecture is a necessary trade as well as anart. Its work must be done, and as nature is notlikely ever to give us gemuses m sufficient num-ber to do the whole of it, the second or third ratearchitect is a very necessary and valuable citi-zen. All our architectural work cannot be great,but all of it ought to be good; and fair intelli-gence, earnest study, and conscientious effortmay make it good, though only a high artisticgift can make it great.sVan Rensselaer was one of many voices at the

end of the nineteenth century calling for theprofessionalization of many pursuits earlierseen as "crafts." In an important essay, "Clientand Architect," she points out the need for aneducated client and deplores the limitationsplaced on the designer by a client with a stub-bornly limited vision. She is, as always, protec-tive of the creative force.

Even apart from competitions, the public’s con-duct is not what it should be to encourage loyalservice. Often enough in all his dealings the cli-ent shows a disregard for truth, honesty, andbusiness methods which he would find veryshocking were the architect the sinner and hethe sufferer. And when the work is complete, heconstantly takes credit for good ideas which donot belong to him, blames the architect fordefects that his own ignorant demands havebrought about, and, above all, cries out againstan excess m cost that has been necessitated bychanges from the original scheme which he him-self has suggested .6

In addition to the essay on Olmsted and theshort but insightful "Landscape Gardening:A Defimtion," the landscape section reprintsseveral pieces of local interest. Van Rensselaer

summered in Marion, Massachusetts, and herpiece on the protection of roadsides was

prompted by a concern for the insensitivity ofroad commissioners and the dreaded linemen in

clearing vegetation. ("There seems to be no sci-ence or art, no reason or plan in their work.")She acknowledges the difficulty in managingthe publicly owned wild border with its thicketsof rose, viburnum, and vines as it grows into pri-vately owned lawns, but suggests that a simpleappreciation of natural growth could createrural roads as beautiful as any English lane.This collection of Van Rensselaer’s writing

has expanded our understanding of the maturingof America’s design professions, the periodwhen they cut their close ties with Europe andbegan to look to our own history and culture forreference points. For the landscape community,one hopes that the collection, positioningMariana Van Rensselaer among the originalthinkers of her period, will lead to the republi-cation of Art Out-of-Doors, making this classictext on American landscape gardening acces-sible once more.

Endnotes

1 Henry Hobson Richardson and His Works (Bostonand NY: Houghton Mifflm, 1888); on Olmsted:Accents as Well as Broad Effects, 284-299.

2 Art Out-of-Doors (NY. Scmbner’s, 1903~, 157.3 Ib~d , 146.

Accents, 284.

5 Ibid., 38.

~ Ibid., 48.

For Further ReadingKmnard, Cynthia D. 1981. "The Life and Works of

Mariana Gnswold Van Rensselaer America’sFirst Professional Woman Art Critic." In

Women as Interpreters of the Visual Arts,1820-1979, edited by C. R. Sherman and AdeleM. Holcomb. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press

Koemgsberg, Lisa. 1990. "Lifewritings First American

Biographers of Architects and Their Works." InThe Architectural Histoman m Amenca,edited by Ehzabeth Blair McDougall.Washmgton, D.C.: National Gallery of Art.

Phyllis Andersen is director of the Institute for CulturalLandscape Studies of the Arnold Arboretum.

"Open to All Real Plant Lovers" : Book Review

judith Siporin

The Bulletins of Reef Point Gardens. BeatrixFarrand. Bar Harbor, ME: The Island Founda-tion, 1997. Hardcover, 134 pages.

Beatrix Farrand’s Reef Point Gardens in Bar

Harbor, Mame, were dismantled and her housetorn down about forty years ago. The granitegate pillars and giant sentinel spruces thatmarked the entrance remain on the site, as doesthe gardener’s cottage beyond them, but theflowerbeds and the paths with their strategicallyplaced benches are gone. Only the magnificentviews of the Maine coast are unchanged.Farrand accepted the transitory nature ofhuman creations with courage and a total lackof sentimentality: it was she herself who, fear-ing an uncertain future for the property whenshe was no longer there to look after it, put anend to her much loved gardens and house.But with the re-publication in one volume ofThe Bulletins of Reef Point Gardens, writtenby Farrand in the conviction that "words andillustrations outlive many plantations," wecan recover a vivid sense of what the gardenonce was.

The bulletins, seventeen in all, publishedbetween 1946 and 1956, were distributed world-wide and could be purchased by visitors to thegardens for ten cents each. Written for the mostpart by Farrand with help from four staff mem-bers who worked closely with her in the gar-dens, they share a clear, concise prose stylegrounded in detailed observation of plants andknowledge of their cultivation. They alsoexpress devotion to a mission, to creating "aplace in the world where those who are movedby outdoor art may study or enjoy books, gar-dens, birds, and the beauty of sky, sea, colour,and the changing seasons-ever different andyet eternal." The new compilation, a project ofthe Island Foundation of Bar Harbor, presentsthe bulletins in chronologically arranged

facsimile with an informative introduction

by Paula Deitz.Farrand’s ambition at Reef Point was to adapt

her parents’ picturesque garden and summerhouse, built at the end of the nineteenth centuryin the newly fashionable summer communityof Bar Harbor, for use as a self-sustammg insti-tution for the study of horticulture and land-scape design.Throughout her career, commissions (includ-

ing the White House gardens during WoodrowWilson’s administration, the Yale and Princetoncampuses, and Dumbarton Oaks) took her awayfrom Maine, but in 1939 the Farrands formallyestablished the Reef Point Gardens Corporation,and her energies became increasingly focused onthis personal project. Although her hopes forbuilding an ongoing institution were never ful-filled, her creation became in its day the onlypublic botanic garden in Maine and was said tocontain "the finest collection of plants north ofthe Arnold Arboretum."

Indeed, Farrand owed her own early educationin horticulture to the private tutoring of Profes-sor Charles S. Sargent at the Arnold Arboretum.He also encouraged her to enter the field of land-scape design, which at that time ordinarilywould have been denied to her as a woman, andhe recommended her for her first commission.The Arboretum nourished a scientific and

scholarly interest in plant collections, which inmany respects determined the character of herown garden. Not only were a number of theunusual plants she grew at Reef Point propa-gated at the Arboretum, but in return she sent toits propagators cuttings from rare plants she hadherself collected. She aimed to establish the

proper classification and nomenclature, worthyof the best botanic gardens, and to accomplishthis relied heavily on the advice of Arboretumstaff, who identified more than eighty of herspecimens from flowers.

34

The bulletins define the long-range plansdrawn up by Farrand and her husband (a scholarand professor of history) and describe the stepsshe took toward establishing an institution thatcould serve a far-reaching community. Some ofthem focus on specific aspects of Reef PointGardens: the site and its ancient geological his-tory ; the buildings and their redesign to accom-modate public visitors; the plan of the grounds;

a walking tour; the library with its impressivecollection of more than 2,700 volumes, docu-ments, and archival material; the herbariumwith over 1,800 pressed and dried specimenscollected from the grounds; and the print collec-tion. Some bulletins are devoted to specialgroups of plants in the garden and their cultiva-tion and maintenance: conifers, single roses, theclimbing plants that created what Farrand

35

termed "vertical beds," "

heaths and heathers,and native Maine wood-land plants. They alsoinclude contemporaryblack-and-white photo-graphs of the groundsand of the house and itsinterior; detailed plansof the gardens, paths,and roads; plant listswith comments on par-ticular species; and alist of blooming plantsmonth by month. Theappendix provides mis-cellaneous additionalmaterial, such as a listof "treasured seeds stillintact m envelopes"that Farrand collectedfrom around the world.

. The aesthetic aspectof Reef Point Gardenswas often closely alliedwith a scientific one,apparent in the empha-sis on exact order and

. classification, the orga-nization of coherentcollections of plants,and the mclusion ofnatural habitats andtheir plants. Farrandloved the simplicityand purity of singleroses, which she lik-ened to illuminationsin a medieval book ofhours or to the draw-

mgs from nature of Durer or Leonardo. Nursery-men had told her that these beautiful roses wereso far out of fashion that they no longer listedthem in catalogs. Farrand’s collection was saidto be "the most complete group of single hybridtea roses in this country and abroad"; severalvarieties were to be found only at Reef Point,having been "almost lost to cultivation."Such a collection could serve as a counterpoise

to the dictates of fashion and preserve varietiesfor posterity.

Farrand makes clear in the bulletins that ReefPoint Gardens were made for the serious stu-dent of nature and gardens rather than for thecasual tourist. She nonetheless took pains topreserve the welcoming character of the house,with its comfortable library and the thirty-foot terrace where visitors could "spend a longafternoon with books and enjoy the quietharbour view." She offered her garden to thegeneral public "in the hope they will glean someof the pleasure it has given the first owners forover fifty years." Beyond her own property, sheleft her mark on the wider community bydesigning over fifty gardens in Bar Harbor,including that of the Rockefellers, and donateda great deal of her time to the planning of AcadiaPark, consulting extensively with John D.Rockefeller, Jr., about the plantings to be usedalong the carriage roads.

In the last bulletin, written three years beforeher death and intended for use as her obituary,Farrand was at pains to place her accomplish-ments in the context of her collaborations andother strong alliances. It was especially fitting,then, that when Farrand declared her intentionto destroy the gardens, friends found a way toperpetuate her exceptional collection of plants.Charles Savage, the owner of a local mn and amember of the Reef Point Gardens Corporation,designed two gardens in Northeast Harbor towhich many of Farrand’s plants were moved-"a remarkable feat of plant preservation,"according to the introduction. One of theseis an azalea garden modeled after a Japanese"stroll garden" with a pool that reflects the care-fully composed sequence of colors of the aza-leas ; proceeds from the sale of The Bulletins ofReef Point Gardens will go to an endowment forthis garden. Now called the Asticou Azalea Gar-den, it is, in the words of the sign that markedthe entrance to Reef Point, "open to all realplant lovers." "

Judith Siporm teaches art history and Enghsh hteratureat the Commonwealth School m Boston and worksseasonally m landscape design and mamtenance.

36

Arnold Arboretum Weather Station Data -1997

Average Maximum Temperature

Average Minimum Temperature

Average TemperatureTotal PrecipitationTotal Snowfall .

Warmest Temperature ’

Coldest TemperatureDate of Last Spring Frost

Date of First Fall Frost

Growing Season

60°

39°

50°

34.91 inches

45.35 inches

97° on June 23

-1 ° on January 19 9

16° on April 29

_ 30° on October 22

188 days

Note: Accordmg to state climatologist R. Lautzenheiser, 1997 was an extremely dry year, tymg 1905 as the sev-enth driest year m 127 years of state weather records. By the end of the year the average precipitation for the state(32.07 inches) was 9.43 mches below normal, the lowest smce the 29.39 mches of 1980.

Here at the Arboretum, the precipitation was average or above during only three months, and for six straightmonths-May through October-it was well below normal. When ram did come, all too often it was m the formof fast, hard showers that could not soak mto the ground. Like 1997, 1995 was also a year of severe drought. Addto this the summer droughts of 1993 and 1994, when little ram fell throughout May, June, July, and August, andthe result has been a great deal of stress on the living collections in four out of the last five years.

But the biggest weather event of 1997 in terms of records broken and direct effects on the Arboretum was theApril Fool’s Day Blizzard. Twenty-five inches of wet, cement-hlce snow driven by gusty winds wreaked havoc onthe collections. This storm surpassed the Hurricane of 1938 as the most destructive m our 125-year history. Giventhe trials of the past year, we can only hope that the old saw about the changeability of New England weather-if you don’t like it, wait a minute-will bnng us entirely different and better weather m 1998.

Index to Volume 57 (1997)Numbers m parentheses refer to issues, those m boldface to illustrauons of the entnes.

Abies (ly 24; (2/: 15, 16- concolor’Glenmore’ ( 1 26-holophylla /2/: 21 1"Accents as Well as Broad Effects~Wntmgs on Architecture,Landscape, and the Environment1876-1925, Manana Gnswold VanRensselaer, review of (4). 30-32

Acer ( 1 24- cisszfohum (2): 24- gnseum (2): inside front cover,

18,19,24- henry (2). 23, 24- kansuense (2). 23- mandshuncum (2): 20-21, 222014 2014 subsp. kansuense (2)’ 23-maximomczianum (2/: 17-18,20,24

--var megalocarpum (2/: 24- negundo ( 1 /: 25; (2): 24-nikoense (2) : 17 7-pentaphyllum (2): 22- pseudoplatanus (2/~ 7-pseudosieboldianum (2): 20, 21- rubrum ( 1 14; (2). 29- saccharinum ( 1 ): 1G- saccharum (2) : 22-- subsp. leucoderme (2) : 29- sutchuenense /2) 23- tmflorum (2) : inside back cover,

20, 23, 242014 2014 var. ~ejopodum (2): 23--var. subconacea (2) : 23- ukurunduense (2) : 21Aceraceae (2) : 17 7Adair, Robert (4): 15 5Adams, Marshall (21: 29Aesculus hippocastanum (2/. 7Ailanthone (3/. 29-35Allanthus ( 1 14- altissima (3) : 20, 22-27Allanthus altissima (3) : front cover,

inside front cover, back cover, 28,29,30,31,32,33,34-36

- webworm ( 1 17 7Alexander III, John H., "’LilacSunday’-The Cultmar" ( 1 12-13

Allee (2)’ 2-10Allelopathy (3) : 28-36"Allelopathy and the Secret Life ofAilanthus altissima, " Rod M.Heisey (3): 28

Allozyme electrophoresis (41: 25Almond, flowering ( 1 10"Amazing Grace. The CutleafMaples," Rob Nicholson (2)~ 17-24

Amelanchier ( 1 26"Amur Honeysuckle, Its Fall FromGrace," James O. Luken and JohnW. Thieret (3): 2-12

Andersen, Phylhs, "Principles ofTaste: Book Review"

Anderson, Alexander [4/. 15, 17-20,drawing by 16 6

Andersoma (4/~ 20Antwerp, Belgmm (21: 4Apple (1/: 5; ~2/~ 14Arnold Arboretum 1 inside back

cover, 12, 14, 16-17, 22, 23-24,25, 26, 27-30, 31, 32; (2/: 19, 20,22, 23, 24; (3y 5; photo of (4) :inside back cover

Arnold Arboretum Weather StationData-1997 ~4y 36

Artocarpus altihs (4/: 18Ash [ 1 24- pumpkm ( 1 14 4Asticou Azalea Garden ~4/: 35Astilbe koreana (2): 21Atteva punctella [1/: 17 7Azalea (4) : 24- torch / 1 23

Baldcypress /1/: 14; ~4/: 8, 9- Mexican (4): 2, 10- Montezuma (4) 6, 10 0Bamboo, false (3) 14-Mexican (3/. 14 4Banks, Joseph (4) : 16, 19Barberry 1 /: 5Battery Park [NY] (2) : 9Bay State Nurseries (31: 18 8Bean, W. J. /3) 3Beaux Arts style ~2/. 10Beech [ 1 26, 27, 28, (2/. 9Berkeley Square [London] (2). 7Betula davunca (2): 21-papynfera ~2/: 15-schmidtm (2/: 21Bienville National Forest [MS] ~2/: 29Biltmore Estate [Asheville, NC] (2):

front cover; (3) : 17 7Birch (1). /. 15, 26, 31 1Birkenhead [England] (2)’ 8Bligh, William ~4/: 18-19 9Bloedel Reserve, Bambndge, WA (21:

15, 16Bobbmk and Atkms (3): 18 8"Book Review," Peter Del Tredici

/ 1 /: 21 1"Book Review: Mosses in theGarden," Bemto C. Tan ~2/: 31-32

Boston Common (2): 8, 9Bounty, H.M.S. (4): 18Bowling Green [NY] (2). 9Box elder (1/: 25; /2/~ 24Boxwood (1) 5, 11 1Breadfruit (41 18-20Brook Place, Plamfield, NH ( 1 3, 4Buckthorn (31: 3 3

Bulletms of Reef Pomt Gardens,Beatrix Farrand, review of (4) : 33-35

Burton, G., drawing by (2). 2-3Bush, B F. ( 1 14Byrnes, Todd ( 1 23

Caley, George /4y 20Capnfohaceae /3y 3 3Carpmus betulus (1). 27Carya ( 1 ~: 24- lacmiosa / 1 [: 24- x browmi ( 1 ~: 31- x laney / 1 26Cedar ( 1 5 5- deodar (2). 12Cedrus deodara (21: 12-hbam (1]~ 24Celus laevigata /2y 29Central Park [NY] (2). 8; (3): 17 7Cercis canadensis (2) : 14Chamaecypans / 1 28Champs Elysees (2). 5Changyang Hsien, Hubei (2) : 23Chase, Mark [4~: 24, 28"Checkered Career of Allanthusaltissima, Behula Shah (3]: 20-27

Chelsea Physic Garden (3~. 22; (4~: 15 5Cherry ( 1 31 1Chloroplast DNA [cpDNA] (4): 24- gene rbcL sequencmg (4). 26Chollipo Arboretum (2): 20Cinchona officinalls (41: 16- santaeluciae [4]: 16 6Cmnamon (41: 13City Hall Park [NY] (21: 8, 9Coates, W. Nigel, "Oglethorpe and

the Oglethorpe Oak" /2/: 25-30with Allen J Coombes

Coffin, Marian / 1 ]~ 5, 10Collinson, Peter (3): 21Cologne, Germany, plan of (2). 4Colomal revival style ( 1 2, 5Cook, James (4): 19Coombes, Allen J., "Oglethorpe and

the Oglethorpe Oak" (2): 25-30with W Nigel Coates

Coromlla vama (3): 9 9Cours de la Reme [Pans] (2). 5, 7Crabapple ( 1 24, 31 1x Crataegosorbus miczurmii /1/: 26Crataegus crus-galli (ly 24Cress, garden (3y 29, 30, 31, 32Crownvetch /3/: 9 9Cucumber tree (4)’ 22-- large-leafed /4~: inside back

cover

Cuevas, Angel Salas, drawing by(4~: 8

38

D’Incarville, Pierre Nicholas (3~: 21 1Danrels, Alanson (1) 5-6Daphne ( 1 10Debreczy, Zsolt, "El Arbol del TuleA Giant Cypress Among theCattarls" /4~: 2-11 with IstvanRacz

Del Rosso, John ( 1 /: 23Del Tredici, Peter, "Book Review"

( 1 21, photos by front cover,inside back cover, back cover; (2~:back cover; (3~: front cover, insideback cover; (4) : inside back cover

Desfontames, Rene (3)’ 22DeWit, plan by (2): 4Diospyros / 1 ~: 17 7Dipteroma /2~: 17 7Dogwood ( 1 24, 31 1Dommion Arboretum, Ottawa (3): 5Dopodomys mgens /3~: 10 0Downmg, Andrew Jackson (3): 21,

23-25; (4~: 31 1Drepanocladus uncmatus /2/: 32Duke, Sarah P., Gardens, Durham,

NC (1~: 11 1Dumbarton Oaks (2): 12Duncan, Wilbur H. (2) : 28, 29

East River Park [NY] /3~: 26Edinburgh (2~: 6El Arbol del Tule A Giant CypressAmong the Cattails," ZsoltDebreczy and Istvan Rasz /4y 2-11 1

Elaeagnus angustifoha (3~: 3 3- umbellata ( 1 ~: 21 1"Ellen Biddle Shipman’s NewEngland Gardens," Judith Tankard(1): 2-11 1

Elhs, John (4). 13, 14Elm p~ 26; (2p 7; (3~: 24Emerald Necklace [Boston] (3~: 17 7Empress tree (3): 22Encalypta cihata (2~: 32Epacridaceae (4~. 20Euptelea polyandra / 1 26Exochorda racemosa (1~: 10 0Exostoma (4): 16

Fagus (2): 9Fairmount Park [Philadelphia] (2). 8Fallopla ~apomca (3/: 13-19, 142014 2014 ’Crimson Beauty’ (3). 18Farges, Paul (2). 23Farquhar, R. and J., and Company

/3~: 18 8Farrand, Beatrix Jones ( 1 ~: 3, 5, 10, 11 1-- The Bulletms of Reef Pomt

Gardens, review of (4~: 33-35Faxon, C. E., drawmg by ( 1 19Fenzel, G. (2) : 23Figlar, Richard B., "Molecular

Analysis. A New Look atUmbrella Magnohas" /4~: 22-29,photo by inside front cover

Frr (1/. 24; (2/: 15, 16- Douglas ( 1 24- Manchunan (2): 21 1Fleeceflower (3/: 14 4Flint, Harrison L., Landscape Plants

for Eastern North America, 2nded., review of ( 1 /. 21 1

Forsyth, William (4) : 15, 17, 19Forsythia, Siebold (3/: 15Forsythia suspensa (3/: 15Fortune, Robert (3): 4 4Fraxmus ( 1 /: 24- pennsylvamca (2/: 29-profunda (1/: 14"From Private Allee to Pubhc Shade

Tree: Historic Roots of the UrbanForest," Henry W. Lawrence (21:2-10

Gansu Province (2) : 23Gebhard, David (4/: 30-32Ginkgo biloba (3): 22Gleason, Herbert W., photos by ( 1 9 9Gramercy Park [NY] (2)’ 9Green Park [London] (2/~ 8Greenough, Mrs. Henry V., garden of

(1/~ 6-8Grosvenor Square [London] (21: 7Guilding, Lansdown, hthographs by

(4): 13, 20

Hackberry ( 1 26Hamilton, William (3) : 22; (4): 17 7Hansen, Niels E. (3): 6 6Haussmann, Eugene (2) : 10 0Hawthorn (1). 24, 31 1Heisey, Rod M., "Allelopathy and

the Secret Life of Ailanthusaltissima" /3/: 28

Hemlock (1/: 23; (2): 15, 16- Canadian [ 1 /: 23- Carolina ( 1 /. 8, 23Hepatica aslauca (2) : 21Hers, Joseph (2): 19, 24Hewitt, Mattie Edwards, photo by

(1/:4 4Hickory [1/: 24Hillier Gardens and Arboretum, SirHarold (2/~ 25, 26, 29, 30

Honan Province (2y 18 8Honeysuckle, Amur (3): 3- bush (3) : 3- Maack’s (3/: 3- Tatarian (3 /: 3- tree (3): 3Hooker, Joseph Dalton (3/~ 16Hornbeam ( 1 26, 27, 28Horse chestnut (2): 7Howard, Richard A , "The St.Vincent Botamc Garden-TheEarly Years" (4/ 12-21

Hubei Province (2): 18-19 9Hudson Square [NY] (21: 9Humboldt, Alexander (4): 6

Hunnewell, H. H (3]: 26Hurricane Edna ( 1 24Hurricane Carol ( 1 24Hutcheson, Martha Brookes ( 1 10Hyde Park [London] (2~: 8Hydrangea, PeeGee (3): 15 5Hydrangea pamculata ’Grandiflora’

(3~: 15 5Hygrohypnum lundum (2]: 32Hypnum cupressiforme /2/: 32

Jack, John ( 1 16 6"Japanese Knotweed’ A Reputation

Lost," Ann Townsend (3): 13-20Jar vis, Dorothy, photo by / 1 8 8Jefferson, Thomas (2]: 3, 9Jekyll, Gertrude ( 1 /: G, 8; (3 /: 16 6Juglans mgra (3~: 29Jumper ( 1 6 6Jumperus commums ( 1 24-vmgimana/1~:5 5 _

Kaempfer, Engelbert (3): 15 5Kalm, Peter (2) :7 7Kalmia latifoha (1~: 23Kangaroo rat, giant /3/: 10 0Kelley, Susan, "Storms and the

Landscape: 1938-1997" ( 1 ~: 22-32Knotweed, Japanese /3]: 13, 14, 15,

1G-19, 18Koller, Gary L., "Leitnenaflondana A Shrub for WetWoodland Conditions" ( 1 14-20

Kudzu (3~: inside back cover

Landscape Plants for Eastern NorthAmerica, 2nd. ed., Flint HarrisonL., review of ( 1 21 1

Lawrence, Henry W., "From PrivateAllee to Public Shade Tree:Historic Roots of the UrbanForest" (2) : 2-10

Leicester Square [London] (2). 6, 7Leitner, E. T. ( 1 14 4Leitnena (1]: 31 1- flondana ( 1 ]: 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,

19-20"Leitnema flondana A Shrub forWet Woodland Conditions," GaryL Koller ( 1 14-20

Leitneriaceae ( 1 14 4Lepidmm satmum (3) : 29, 30Lignum mtae (4): 20"’Lilac Sunday’-The Cultmar," "

John H Alexander III (1/: 12-13Lilac, common- Persian ( 1 12 2Linden (1]: 24, 26, 27; (2~: 7- European (3). 23Liqmdambar (1) 17 7Lmodendron (1). 24

,

- chmense (4) : 26- tuhpifera (4): 26Lochhead, Wilham (4). 20

39

Locust, black (2) : 7Long Hill, Beverly, MA ( 1 11 1Longue Vue Gardens, New Orleans,

LA (1/~ 11 ILomcera maackia (3): 2-12, 5, 9--’Rem-Red’ ~3/ 6 6- tatamca (3/~ 3Loudon, J C. (3): 22, 23Louisburg Square [Boston] (2) : 9Luken, James 0., "Amur Honey-

suckle, Its Fall From Grace" (3): (:2-12 with John W. Thieret

Luxembourg Gardens [Pams] (2) : 7

Maack, Robert ~3/: 4 4Magnoha 1 26, 31- Asian umbrella (4) : inside frontcover

- big-leaf (4) : 22-’Dma’ (2)’ 23- mountam (4/: 22- Mulan (4/: 22Magnoha (4). 22, 24, 29- acummata ~ 1 24; (4). 22- frasen (4/: 22, 23, 25-26, 28, 29- hypoleuca (4): 22- kobus ( 1 /: 24-’Leonard Messel’ (1): 31 1-hlmflora (4). 22- macrophylla (4)~ inside back

cover, 22, 25-26, 27, 28, 29- obovata (4): 22, 23, 25-26, 28, 29-officmalis (4)’ 22, 23, 25, 28- rostrata (4/: 22, 29- sieboldn (2/: 21 1- tnpetala (4y inside front cover,22,24,25-26,28,29

- virgmiana ( 1 21Malus (2): 14- glabrata (1/: 24Malvaceae (3). 33Manning, Warren ( 1 2, 7, 11 1Maple (1/: 24, 26, (2/. 17; /3/: 24- cutleaf (2). 22- five-leaf (2/~ 22- Henry’s (2/: 24- ivy-leafed (2): 24- Japanese (1) 27- Manchunan (2): 20-23- Nikko (2): 17-18, 21 1- paperbark (2): inside front cover,

18, 19, 20- purplebloom ~2/ 20- red ( 1 /. 14, 24- silver ( 1 /: 16, 24- sugar (2/: 22- sycamore (2/: 7- three-flowered (2) : 20-21 1- trifoliate ~2/. 17, 20, 23, 24McGmley, Mrs. Holden, garden of

(1/~8,9,10Medici, Mane de’ (2): 4Meehan, Thomas (3): 25Melville, Robert (4): 12, 15, 17 7

Metasequoia glyptostroboides ( 1 /: 28Middleton Place, SC (2)’ 11Miller Garden, Columbus, IN (2): 14Miller, Philip ~2/ 26; (3): 22"Molecular Analysis: A New Look

at Umbrella Magnolias," RichardB Figlar (4). 22-29

Morton Arboretum (2/~ 28, 29, 30;(3): 6

Moss (2) : back cover, 31 1"Moss Gardening mcludmg gLichens, Lmerworts, and OtherMmiatures, George Schenk,review of (2): 31-32

Mountam laurel ( 1 23

National Botanic Garden, Belgium(2): 19

Naumkeag, Stockbndge, MA (2): 14,15

New York Botamcal Garden (3). 5, 6Nichols, Marian (1) 2 2Nichols, Rose Standish ( 1 3 3Nicholson, Rob, "Amazing Grace:The Cutleaf Maples" (21 17-24

North American-China PlantExploration Consortium, 1994(2): 19

Nyssa sylvauca (1): 14

Oak /1/: 24, 27, 28; (2): 9- black / 1 30- live (2). 11- Oglethorpe ~2/: 24-30- shingle (2): 28- white (2) : 25Oconee National Forest [GA] (2)’ 29Odae-san National Park (2): 20"Oglethorpe and the OglethorpeOak," Allen J Coombes and W.Nigel Coates (2) : 25-30

Oglethorpe, James ~2/: 25-28, 30"Old Farms," Wenham, MA (1) /

inside front cover, 5-6, 7Olive, autumn ( 1 21- Russian (3): 3Olmsted, Frederick Law ~2/: 8; (3y

17; (4): 31, 32"’Open to All Real Plant Lovers’:Book Review," Judith Siporin (4):33-35

Pachysandra ( 1 6 6Palisades Nurseries (3): 18Pall Mall [London] (2): 8Pans, plans of [2/: 5Parks, Clifford (4/: 24, 25, 28Parsons, Jr., Samuel (3/~ 26Pasfield, Donald ( 1 19Paulownia tomentosa /3y 22Peach, double-flowering 1 10Pear [ 1 /: 31 1- Bradford ( 1 21 1Pearlbush 1 /: 10

Pemberton Square [Boston] (2y 9Pennsylvama Avenue [Washmgton,DC] /2[: 2-3, 9

Picea ( 1 /: 24, 28- rubens (2]: back coverPicrasma (1) 14

Pme, Japanese black ( 1 28- - white ( 1 /. 29Pme, red ( 1 23Pme, Scots ( 1 28Pme, white ( 1 23,28Pmus / 1 [: 28- ban&sjaiM Ill. 23- cembra / 1 23- leucodermis ( 1 23, 28-parmfloravar. pentaphylla /1)~ 29-mgida (1/: 23- strobus ( 1 /: 28- sylvestns ( 1 inside back cover,

28- thunbergm / 1 /: 28Plane tree (2). 13- - London /2[: 7Platanus occidentahs (2/: 7- x acemfoha (2). 7, 13Platt, Charles ( 1 /: 2, 3Poison ivy (2): 26Polygonaceae (3): 13Polygonum cuspidatum /3]: 13Poplar (1]: 24; /3/~ 24- Lombardy (2/: 2-3, 9Populus/1) 24Populus mgra ’Itahca’ /2/ 9Princess tree (3): 22"Principles of Taste: Book Review," "

Phylhs Andersen (4/~ 30-32Province, H.M.S. (4): 18Pseudotsuga menziesm (1]: 24Pubhc Garden [Boston] (2): 9Puerana lobata (31 inside back

cover

Qm, Yin-Long (4]: 24, 28Quassia family / 1 14Quercus / 1 /: 24; (2~: 9- alba (2): 29- falcata /2/: 29- imbncana (2) : 28, 29- margaretta (2). 29- oglethorpensis (2): 24-30, 27, 28-pagoda (2) : 29- robur (2]: 29- smuata (2/: 29- velutma ( 1 ]: 30- vmgmiana (2) : 11 1Qumme /4/: 16 6

Racz & Debreczy, photos by /4/:front cover, back cover, 2, 5, 6, 7,8,10

Racz, Istvan, "El Arbol del Tule AGiant Cypress Among theCattails" (4) 2-11 with ZsoltDebreczy

40

Ranelagh [London] (2): 9Redbud (2): 14Redwood, California (4) : 3- dawn ( 1 31 1Reef Point Gardens, plan of (4~: 34-35

Regel, E. (3) : 4Rehder, Alfred (2) : 24Restriction site analysis (4): 25, 26,28

Rhamnus cathartica (3): 3Rhododendron brachycarpum (2/: 21 1- obtusum var. kaempfen (1)" 23- schlrppenbachm (2/: 21 1Rhus radicans (2): 26Rhytidiadelphus (2/: 32Robmia pseudoacacia (2/~ 7Robmson, William (3) : 16-17, 19, 25Rochester Parks Department, New

York ( 1 14Rock, Joseph (2/: 22Roque, John, plan of Pans by (2): 5;map of London by (2) : 8

Rose ( 1 [: 9- ‘Emily Gray’ ( 1 9 9-’Golden Salmon’ polyanthus ( 1 8 8Royal Botamc Gardens [Kew] (3~: 4,

16 6

Royal Horticultural Society (3) 5,21-22

Russell Square [London] (2): 7Rytidospermum (4~: 22, 24, 29

Sage, purple (3[: 29Salvia leucophylla (3). 29Sargent, C. S. (1~: 26, 28, 29, 31; (2/~

17-18, 24, 28; (3~: 25-26; (4): 5, 30Savage, Phil (4): 29Schenk, George, Moss Gardemngmcludmg Lichens, Liverworts,and Other Mimatures, review of

(2): 31-32Seaforth, Governor Lord (4): 17 7Sedgwick, Mabel Cabot ( 1 /: 3, 11 1Sequoia, giant (4): 3Shah, Behula, "The CheckeredCareer of Ailanthus altissima"(3) : 20-27

Shennong~ia Forest (2~: 23Shensi Province (2/~ 18-19, 20, 23Sherlock Smol, painting by (2) : 26Shipman, Ellen ( 1 2, 3-11 1- - garden design by ( 1 inside

front cover, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10Shurcliff, Arthur ( 1 2 2Sichuan Province (2): 18, 22, 23Siebold, Philhpp Franz Balthasar

von (3[: 15,-16 6Simaroubaceae (1): 14; (3) : 21, 28-29Smo-Amemcan Botamcal Expedi-

tion, 1980 (2): 19, 23

Siporin, Judith, "’Open to All RealPlant Lovers’ Book Review" (4):33-35

Sloane, Hans (2): 26Smith College (2): 20Solana, TX (2): 13Soufriere [St. Vincent] (4): 16Spaeth Nurseries, Germany (3/: 5 5Spmaea prumfoha (ly 10Spongberg, Stephen (2) : 23Spring Garden [London] (2): 9Spruce ( 1 /: 24- red (2): back coverSt. James’s Park [London] (2): 8St. Petersburg Imperial BotamcGarden (2): 22; (3): 4, 5

St. Vincent Botamc Garden (4/: 12,14, 15-16, 17-20, 21 1

"St. Vincent Botanic Garden-TheEarly Years," Richard A. Howard(4) : 12-21

Stan Hwyet Hall, Akron, OH ( 1 11 1Stern, Edith and Edgar, garden of ( 1 /:

11 1"Storms and the Landscape: 1938-

1997," Susan Kelley (1/: 22-32Strybmg Arboretum (2/~ 22Stryrax ~apomca (1/: 31 1Sweetgum ( 1 17 7Syringa x chinensis ( 1 12 2- x - ’Alba’- x -’Lilac Sunday’ ( 1 12, 13,back cover

- x - ’Saugeana’-x. hyacmthiflora (1/. 12 2-lacmata (1/: 12 2- oblata ( 1 12- persica / 1 /: 12- x persica ( 1 /: 12- protolacmata ( 1 /: 12 2- vulgans ( 1 /: 12-13 3

Tan, Bemto C., "Book Review:Mosses m the Garden" (2). 31-32

Tankard, Judith B., "Ellen BiddleShipman’s New England Gardens(1): 2-11 1

Taxodiaceae (4/: 3, 9Taxodium (4/: 9- distichum ( 1 /. 14; (4/: 5, 9- mucronatum (4) : front cover,back cover, 3-4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10

Thieret, John W., "Amur Honey-suckle, Its Fall From Grace" (3) : (:2-12 with James O. Luken

Thu7a (1/: 2 2Thunberg, Carl Pieter (3): 15Tiergarten, Berlin (2): 7Tiha (2): 7Tontine Crescent [Boston] (2): 9Townsend, Ann, "Japanese Knotweed:A Reputation Lost" (3/: 13-20

Toxicodendron radicans (2): 26Tracy, Edith Hastings, photos by ( 1 ):

inside front cover, 6, 7Tree-of-heaven (1). 14; (3): front

cover, 21-27, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,28-36

"Trees in the Frame," Alan L. Ward(2): 11-16 6

Tsuga /1): 2s; (2): 15, 16 6- canadensis ( 1 front cover, 23- carohmana ( 1 23, 24Tuilenes (2/: 4, 5, 7Tulip tree ( 1 24Tupelo / 1 14Turgot, engraving by (2) : 5Tyley, John (4/: 19 9

Ulmus (2) : 7Umbrella tree (4)~ 24Umon Square [NY] (2/~ 9Unter den Linden, Berlm (2/~ 5, 7USDA Section of Foreign Seed and

Plant Introduction (3): 6USDA Soil Conservation Service(3): 6

Van Rensselaer, Mariana Gnswold,Accents as Well as Broad Effects.Wmtmgs on Architecture,Landscape, and the Environment1876-1925, review of (4): 30-32

Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler[Mariana Gnswold] (4) : 30, 31, 32

Vaux, Calvert (2). 8; /3). 17 7Vauxhall [London] (2) 9Veitch Nursery (2): 19Versailles (2) : 7Viburnum wrtghril (2): 21Victoria Park [London] (2) : 8Vilmorm Nursery (2) : 19 9

Walnut, black (3): 29Ward, Alan L, "Trees m the Frame"

(2): 11-16; photo by front coverWarren, Mrs. Samuel D., garden of

(1): 5, 6Washmgton Square [NY] (2): 9Waugh, Frank (3)~ 18 8Wesley, John and Charles (2): 26Westbrook [Godalmmg, England] (2):25,26

Willow ( 1 24; (3 28Wilson, E. H. ( 1 23, 28; (2/: 18-19,

24, photos by inside front cover,inside back cover, 23

Witchhazel (1): 31 1Wolchong-sa temple (2): 20, 21 1Wuhan Temple (3) : front cover, back

cover

Wyman, Donald / 1 24

Young, George (4): 12-17 7

The Arnold ArboretumW I N T E R . N E W 5 . , , , , 8

A New Director fora New Arboretum

Robert E. Cook, Director

In January, Dr. StephenSpongberg, who for twenty-sevenyears has been the horticultural

taxonomist at the Arboretum,announced his retirement at the

ripe young age of fifty-five. Steveis not planning to collect sandbetween his toes on the beaches of

St. Barbados His early retirementwas prompted by an offer fewcould refuse: he has been appointeddirector of a new botanical orgam-zation on Martha’s Vmeyard, thePolly Hill Arboretum. Here hewill have the opportunity to create

a horticultural and educational

institution built on the extensive

private collections of the legend-ary and deeply revered horticul-turist Polly Hill, who for decadeshas been establishing a uniquelandscape of plants around herhome in West Tisbury. Visited bythousands of friends and lovers of

plants since she began collectingin the 1950s, Barnards Inn Farmbecame the Polly Hill Arboretumin 1997, with plans to formallyopen to the public in 1998.

Steve will be greatly missed atthe Arboretum, though he willretain a research appointment here

and we anticipate calling upon hisbotamcal expertise often. Stevebegan his career at the Arboretumin 1970 when he worked on the

Generzc Flora of the SoutheasternUnzted Stater project as apostdoctoral graduate of the Uni-

versity of North Carolina. Over

the next two decades he edited

and published numerous taxo-nomic review articles in the Jour-nal of the Arnold Arboretum, nowpublished as part of the HarvardPapers zn Botany. He became espe-cially interested in the close evolu-tionary relationship between theflora of eastern Asia and that of

eastern North America, and he

developed deep taxonomic exper-tise in the genera Magnolaa andSorbus. These interests culmmated

in three great achievements.

In 1980 Steve participated inthe first cooperative venture

between Chinese and American

scientists, the Sino-Amencan

Botanical Expedition to westernHubei Province. Among its manycollections, this excursion broughtback Magnolza zenzz, Heptacodtummzconzozde,r, and Sorbur yuana asnew introductions to North

America. In 1990 Steve pubhshedA Reunion of Trees, a rich anddetailed history of the search fornew botanical species around theworld and the critical role of theArnold Arboretum in discoveringthe botanical treasures of Asia.

Seven years later he was honored

by the Royal Horticultural Societywith the award of the Gold Veitch

Memorial Medal for contributionsto horticulture. With this honor

he joined previous staff membersErnest Henry Wilson, WilliamJudd, and Donald Wyman, fourof only fifteen Americans whohave received the disungmshedBritish award.

Steve will be greatly missed atthe Arboretum and by his manycolleagues and friends at theHarvard University Herbaria. Weall wish him the greatest success

in this challenging and excitingnew endeavor.

Campaign Tops $5 MillionLisa Hastings, Director of Development

The Campaign for the Arnold Arboretum passed thefive-million-dollar mark as of January 31, 1998, a

significant milestone in this first major fundraisingeffort at the Arnold Arboretum since 1927. Total

cash and commitments reached $5,140,000 towardthe campaign goal of $8 2 million, which was pub-licly announced last June. The campaign will endwhen the university-wide campaign concludes onDecember 31, 1999.

The five-million-dollar figure reflects several

large gifts received dunng the last eighteen monthsand significant, steady growth in both the member-

ship and annual appeal programs. In the category of

gifts over $10,000, the Arboretum has received$1,468,334 from twenty-one donors since July 1,1997. This compares with $285,000 received fromten donors in FY97 and $330,000 received from

seven in FY96. The number of gifts ranging from

$1,000 to $10,000 has also increased significantly.In this category, the Arboretum received 49 giftstotaling $120,000 in FY97, an increase of 80 percentover 27 gifts with a total of $67,000 in FY96. Todate this year, we have received 36 gifts for a totalof $96,861.

ANNUAL APPEAL APPROACHES $100,000In his annual, year-end letter to members, DirectorBob Cook admitted that his appeal-which didn’task for money-left the Arboretum’s director of

development "turning white." Nonetheless, the1997 annual appeal has raised $88,000, an increaseof 31 percent over total dollars received at this time

last year. The number of gifts has mcreased 38

percent.In spite of, or perhaps because of, Bob’s unortho-

dox approach to fundraising, the 1997 annual appealhas grown in several categories: The most notable

growth is in the 100 to $999 bracket, with totaldollars up 46 percent and the number of gifts at thislevel up 28 percent Like membership dues, annual

appeal dollars provide important unrestricted, cur-rent-use funds that support the Living Collections

and other Arboretum programs and imuauves.

We are much encouraged by these generousresponses. Bob Cook said, "The increase in overall

giving on the part of both our most loyal membersand many new supporters this past year represents a

tremendous vote of confidence in the current work

of the Arboretum. While the campaign has been a

major undertaking, the success of this effort to datereflects a deep interest in the future of this uniqueinstitution."

Flora of the Lesser Antilles

Copies of the six-volume Flora of the Lesser Antalles,a long-term project of Richard A. Howard, formerdirector of the Arnold Arboretum, are still available

in limited quantities.These six volumes constitute the first comprehen-

sive flora of the area, and the treatments present keysto the genera as well as the species for easy identifi-cation. For each genus and species a complete mod-ern description is provided; it includes coloration aswell as measurements of floral parts. The descrip-tions are followed by geographic distribution bothwithin and without the Lesser Antilles. All volumes

are abundantly illustrated with line drawings thatare botamcally correct and highly artistic. All speciesknown in the Lesser Antilles, both native and intro-

duced, are included.The six volumes are available either individually

or as a complete set. For the complete set a special

price of $260 is offered that includes shipping and

handling within the U.S.A. (Add $5 for shippingoutside the U.S.A.) For volumes 4, 5, and 6 only, the

special price is $205.Individual volumes may be purchased at the

prices given below, plus $2 per volume for shippingand handlmg:

Checks should be made payable to the Arnold Arbo-retum, and all orders should be addressed to the

attention of Frances Magmre, Arnold Arboretum,125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, U S.A.

A New Outlook onPeters Hill

Peter Del Tredici

Director of Living Collections

The drought of 1997 delayed theplanting phase of the improve-ments to Peters Hill that have

been underway since last May, butit is at the top of the list for the

spring planting season.The plan isto enhance the pastoral characterof Peters Hill as a passive publicopen space in the Olmstedian tra-

dition of "scenery in the naturalstyle." Following the recommen-dations in the master plan preparedby the landscape architecture firmof Sasaki Associates in 1992, aseries of short- and long-rangeviews will alternate on the

approach to the summit, withbroad expanses of greensward bro-ken occasionally by groves of treesand islands of mound-formingshrubs. The effect will be natural-

istic, consistent with both the

Olmsted/Sargent plan for the corearea of the Arboretum and with

Beatrix Farrand’s unreahzed 1949

plan for Peters Hill. The visitor’sexperience at the top of the hill,with its views of the Boston sky-line and local surrounds, willaffirm Olmsted’s goal of a spiritu-ally restorative, "enlarged senseof freedom."

Three distinct "communities,"or spatial/ecological types thatrefer to existing natural and

planted groupings, will form thestructure of the four-acre-plushilltop. In keeping with Farrand’srecommendation that "no plantsshould be set out which are inca-

pable of fighting their own battlesagainst wind, cold and drought,"we have chosen a combination of

native and imported species fortheir likely adaptability to the rig-orous site conditions. As indi-

This yellowwood, Cladrastis kentuckea, which grows near Faxon Pond,was moved to the Arboretum from the Harvard Botanic Garden at

Cambridge in 1881. A new generation of yellowwoods will be plantedon Peters Hill this spring.

vidual plants thrive or declineover time, dynamic interactionswill gradually lead to a blurring ofthe edges.· A mixed deciduous forest of

trees and understory/edgeshrubs will march up the south-

east slope from the existingnatural forest. Trees will include

several species of oak, sassafras,sweet birch, hackberry, Ameri-can hornbeam, and common

persimmon. Some of the root-

suckenng understory and edgeshrubs will be native vibur-

nums, witch hazel, shadblow,meadowsweet, and low- and

highbush bluebernes.· Mound-formmg shrubs andgroundcovers-all sun-lomngand stoloniferous or root-

suckermg-mll include sweet-fern, bayberry, several sumacs,and bottlebrush buckeye.

· Woody legumes will fill out asavannah of leguminous trees.Among them will be Americanyellowwoods, Kentucky coffeetree, Amur maackaa, and the

Japanese pagoda tree.

New England Grows!The annual convention of New England’s green industry,called New England Grows!, gives Living Collections andother Arboretum staff a welcome break in the midwinter

routine. Held near the end of January at the Hines Auditoriumin Boston’s Back Bay, it offered three days of lectures, demon-strations, and exhibits. Among this year’s lecturers wereArboretum Senior Propagator Jack Alexander, on lilacs, andDirector of Living Collections Peter Del Tredici on "TheRadical Underground: The Myths & Realities of Tree Root

Systems." The Membership staff set up a display and, alongwith other Arboretum staff, dispensed information on theprograms of the Arboretum.

DemystifyingBamboosBamboos are invasive and not

hardy. Or are they? From 7:00to 8:00 pm on Monday, March30, Ian Connor of England’sSir Harold Hillier Gardens and

Arboretum will demolish the

myths surrounding this exoticand undervalued group of

plants. His slides will demon-strate how beautiful and varied

bamboos are, and Connor will

show how they can be grownin your garden without actingthe villains that they have beenbranded. Come be converted

by this self-proclaimed bam-boo fanatic and learn how to

bring this plant group out ofisolation and back into the

garden.The fee for members is $10,

$12 for nonmembers. To regis-ter, call 617/524-1718 x 162.

Connor’s booklet, A Cultiva-tion Guide for Bamboo, will beavailable for sale at the lecture.

1998 American Landscape Lecture Series

THE 1 . · .. 1~ .

Theory and Practice ,

This sixth year of the American Landscape Lecture Series takes up thesubject of stewardship and the implications for contemporary conserva-tion in a time of changing views of nature. The series is a collaborationamong the Arnold Arboretum, National Park Service, Harvard Gradu-ate School of Design, and other landscape-oriented sponsors.

All lectures are free and begin at 6:30 pm at the Harvard GraduateSchool of Design, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge. For information, callthe National Park Service at 617/566-1689 x 204.

Thursday, February 12: People and Nature: Can We Find a Balance?Danzel B. Botkzn, Prerzdent, The Center for the Study of the Environment,Santa Barbara, California, and Professor of Bzology, George MasonDnzverrzty

Thursday, February 26: Common Lands, Common People: Lessons -from New England History for Contemporary ConservationRichard W2lliamJudd, Professor of History, University of Mazne, Orono

Thursday, March 12: A New Approach to Vermont’s Forests: Manag-ing for Jobs and the Environment

Jeffrey Roberts, Vermont Land Tru.rtBrenden Wbzttaker, Northeast Vermont Development ArroczatzonCarl Powden, Vermont Land Tru.rt

John Roe, The Nature Conservancy of Vermont

Thursday, April 9: Common Ground in the Range War: The MalpaiBorderlands GroupJohn C. Cook, Vme Pre.rzdent, The Nature Conservancy, and Co-Dzrector,The Malpaz Borderlands Group

MarkYour CalendarsThe Arnold Arboretum’s two most popular annual events-Lilac Sundayand the Fall Plant Sale-have been scheduled.

May 17 is the day for en~oyng a long-standing spring tradition in Bos-ton The hlacs should be in peak bloom, so come view the collection andplan to spend the day exploring the May landscape. Bring a picmc-only on Lilac Sunday is picnicking permitted at the Arboretum.

September 20-also a Sunday-is the date set for the Annual Fall PlantSale at the Case Estates in Weston. The Plant Sale offers something foreveryone, serious plant collector and novice gardener alike. As in thepast, this year’s event will feature plant sales in the barn; live auction,silent auction, and straight sales tents; plant society row; and-due totheir popularity last year-informal education sessions in the teachinggarden. Members will receive their sale catalogs and free plant vouchersin the mail in advance of the sale. For information about plant salebenefits for members, call Kelly Harvey in the membership office at617/524-1718 x 165.