Dr. B. Seemann on the Mammoth-tree of Upper California, 175 



with a bark much resembling that of the Redwood in appear- 

 ance ; it is of a rich cinnamon-brown, and from 18 to 22 inches 

 thick ! The wood, when first cut, is white ; but it soon becomes 

 reddish, and long exposure makes it as dark as mahogany ; it 

 is soft, yet nevertheless of slow decay, and abounds in the red 

 colouring matter, soluble in water, from which the Redwood 

 takes its name. The branchlets are round, somewhat pendent, 

 and resemble those of a Cypress or a Juniper. As is the case 

 in a more or less marked manner in most Coniferce, not except- 

 ing even Sequoia sempervirens, there are two kinds of foliage, 

 the same branch often presenting both imbricated and distichous 

 leaves. The leaves are alternate, perennial, in the younger plants 

 oblong-subulate, apiculate or mucronate, semiamplexicaul, keeled 

 at the back, plane within, but with a slightly elevated central 

 ridge ; in the older plants they are smaller, shorter, more com- 

 pact and crowded, ovate-lanceolate, acute. Both male and female 

 flowers present the same structure as those of S. sempervirens ; 

 the same may be said of the cones ; the only difference in the 

 latter being that those of S. Wellingtonia are generally a little 

 larger than those of its congener. 



The Mammoth-tree was introduced into European gardens by 

 Mr. William Lobb ; and in 1853 single plants were sold by 

 Veitch^s Nursery for £2 2s, ; but since then quantities of seeds 

 have been imported, and there is now hardly a horticultural 

 establishment without one or more representatives of this re- 

 markable evergreen. In England it seems to stand the winter 

 without injury ; and even in Germany and other parts of Northern 

 Europe it does not require the protection of a glass-house; so 

 that even in those countries it may become a forest- and useful 

 timber-tree. In July 1856, complaints were heard that, in 

 spite of the most careful culture, a peculiar disease had befallen 

 this new Sequoia, in consequence of which the twigs were ob- 

 served to die off in the same manner as they do in Cryptomeria 

 Japonica. Horticulturists began to take alarm, and feared that 

 their new acquisition would inevitably be lost ; but Dr. Lindley 

 soon discovered that, though the twigs died, the main stem and 

 branches continued to grow vigorously, and that the so-called 

 disease was constitutional, and could not be looked upon as a 

 sign of ill-health, or a proof of bad culture. In 1858 it bore 

 ripe fruit in England, under the skilful treatment of Mr. J. 

 Buckle, at Thetford. May the Mammoth-tree continue to 

 flourish, and display in the gardens and pleasure-grounds of 

 Europe the same gigantic proportions that render it an object 

 of wonder and amazement in its native valleys of America ! 



22, Canonbury Square, Islington, 

 January 10, 1859. 



