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FORKION NOTICES. 



folYlfjii li'ojlccs. 



Botanical Affinity of the Cedah of Lebakon and the Deodak. — Tlic following 

 article -will be read -with interest by the many admirers of tlie famous Deodar Cedar. It 

 has frequently struck us as an important quality of this tree to "sport" when raised from 

 seed. Thorohust-aand. viridis are two quite distinct varieties — the first distinguished by its 

 vigorous habit, and the other by its deep green color. There is likely to be an endless 

 variety among seedUngs, which may be, in some respects, regretted, while in others it will 

 add to its interest. 



" When the Deodar was first raised from seed in this country, the graceful weeping habit of 

 its branches, their glaucous hue and long tender shoots presented an aspect so different from the 

 ordinary appearance of seedling Cedars, that no one, we believe, who observed the two trees 

 growing together, doubted their distinctness. Systematic botanists have, howevei', all along, found 

 a diftieulty in ]iointing out tangible characters to distinguish them ; and travelers who had seen 

 the trees in their native places of growth have, from time to time, reported that they arc both 

 liable to a very great amount of variation, and that both vary in tlie same way. If to this we 

 add that among the myriads of Deodars which are now yearly raised in this country, many 

 varieties are already beginning to a])j)ear, some of wliich are much nearer the Cedar than the 

 oriijinul state, it will not appear surprising that an opinion sliould have arisen among botanists, 

 which begins to gain ground even among cultivators, that the two trees are not specifically 

 distinct. 



"It is in all cases a matter of considerable difficulty to decide whether or not two closely 

 allied forms are identical or distinct. Accurate observation of the plants in their native places 

 of growth, during all stages of their existence, is the only unerring guide in such a case, and 

 where that is impossible a careful examination and comparison of extensive suites of specimens in 

 all states can alone enable a botanist to decide on the identity or distinctness of two sucli forms. 

 Tlie dilhculty of solving such a question, always great, is considerably enhanced wiien large trees 

 form the subject of comparison, and is, perhaps, greatest of all witli cultivated trees which, being 

 placed in circumstances different from those in which they naturally grow, have a tendency to 

 assume appearances different from those which are characteristic of the sjjecies. The question, 

 indeed, is one in which the cultivator is as much or more concerned than the mere botanist, and 

 it is one which tiie observant and philosopliic cultivator is peculiarly qualified to answer, as from 

 his acquaintance with the extent to which plants raised from seed are liable to vary, he is better 

 than any other person able to decide what amount of variation may exist without specific 

 difference. 



"That the Cedar and Deodar are very closely allied to one another no one doubts. Both belong 

 to the same section of the Pine tribe, characterised by solitary persistent leaves and erect cones. 

 Tlie male flowers in both are absolutely the same, and small branchlets of the two are in the 

 herbarium almost undistinguishable — the mode of branching, insertion of the leaves, and color of 

 bark being quite the same. The cones in both vary a good deal in shape, but the scales and 

 broad-winged seeds are the same in both species. A difference in the shape of the scales, indicated 

 by Endlicuer, seems to have no real existence, or rather to depend on the age of the cone; for 

 before inatuiity the scales are closely pressed together and bent upwards, but as the seed ripens 

 pread out and become straight or even reflexed before they fall away from the persistent axis, 

 le oidy points of distinction, tlien, which can be discovered between the Deodar and the 





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