Arnold Arboretum Makes Additions In Spite of War

In spite of the war extensive foreign additions were made to the collections of the Arnold Arboretum during the past year, Dr. Elmer D. Merrill, Administrator of Botanical Collections, said today in his annual report.

Fifteen hundred living plants were received from institutions in England, Sumatra, Hawalii, Canada, and the United States, while the Arboretum sent many plants and seeds to various parts of the world, including Great Britain, Australia, and Hungary.

Additions to the Arboretum brought the total of named species and varieties of hardy ligneous plants in actual cultivation to 6,500, the report said.

Mounted Specimens Increased

The Herbarium of the Arboretum was increased by 19,413 mounted specimens from many parts of the world, bringing the total collection to 513,880. Specimens were received from Japan, China, the Philippines, Australia, Malaysia, Papuasia, Polynesia, India, and Indo-China, as well as from North and South America.

Important Asiatic collections received were 22,000 specimens from Indo-China, 4,500 from Yunnan, 2,000 from western China sent by the Lu-Shan Botanical Garden, 2,500 specimens from Szechuan, China, sent by Nanking University, and 12,000 specimens from Fiji. The Arboretum distributed 42,445 specimens. Many thousands of specimens for shipment to Europe were held up.

Founded in 1872 for the purpose of scientific research in dendrology and arboriculture, the arboretum has served also as a garden of trees and shrubs suited to the local climate. Supplementing the living collections there are the Herbarium, a library, and pathological laboratories, which are connected to the propagating houses.