of a palm-leaf, or a fan, clearly distinguish it from the following (Fig. 2), which 

 the gardeners, in France, generally designate under the name of TImia Nepalensis, 

 or T. tatarica; the latter is much more bushy; its branches, although numerous, 

 and straight, are furnished with delicate raraules, more elongated and divaricated 

 than the former, imparting to it a peculiar and distinctive appearance. 



Independently of this very different aspect, the shape of the cones will not 

 permit us to confound it with the Biota orientalis (Fig. 1), in which each scale 

 of the cone, which is 



regular, presents a Fig- 1- Fig. 2. 



point or straight 

 prolongation, either 

 slightly curved at its 

 apex, and gibbous, 

 or somewhat dilated 

 and enlarged at its 

 base. In the Biota 

 pyramidalis (Y'lg. 2), 

 on the contrary, the 

 scales of the cones, 

 which are irregular, 

 are furnished, toward 

 the apex, with a long, 

 subcylindrical point, 



curved at its extremity. The drawing of the ramules, accompanying the cones 

 in the two species, exhibits the difference much more clearly than any written 

 description. 



We will avail ourselves of this opportunity to justify the name of Biota, and 

 recommend it to our brethren instead of that of T/mia ; for, if too great subdivi- 

 sion is wrong, too great generalization is equally so ; on the one hand, objects 

 which are closely suited, are too widely separated ; and, on the other, those which 

 have no affinity are included in the same class. 



In the first place, the Biota is a native of the Old Hemisphere, while the Thuia, 

 properly so-called, has reached us from the Xew World ; no exception to this 

 geographical distribution is as yet known. In the Biota, the cones, which are 

 large and subglobular, are formed of thick and woody scales, having, at their 

 base, seeds which are almost osseous, and ovoid, rounded, or subconical, some- 

 times slightly compressed, and entirely unfurnished with wings. In the Thuia 

 (T. occidentalis), on the contrary, the cones are small, oblong, or subcylindrically 

 elongated, slightly thickened toward the middle, and formed of very thin, cartila- 

 ginous, and cork-like scales, having, at their base, very delicate, compressed seeds, 

 of cartilaginous consistence, always provided with a membranous, and nearly 

 transparent wing. By contrasting the two genera, their characteristic marks will 

 be more apparent. 



