August 10, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



161 



Ornamental Conifers 



(Jliikgo biloba — female 



G. biloba — male 



Toiroj-a nucifei'a 



Taxiis L)ac(;-ata al'ir 



TAXACEAE 



Tliese are the nut-bearing conifers. They are 

 divided into two tribes — Salisburineae and Taxiue^. 



Salisbiiria adiantifolia or Ginkgo biloba has been 

 already described in this paper in the July 6 number 

 and it is useless to say more about it ; it is certainly a 

 beautiful tree, more appreciated here than it is in 

 Europe, for it is the best to plant as a city tree, always 

 clean and free from disease and insects. One tiling I 

 would add to M. Thomas' note : The tree is dicecious 

 — that is to say, there are male and female trees, which 

 are easy to distinguish one from the other when of a 

 certain size. The male grows bushier than the female, 

 whicli has long, slender branches and when these are 

 covered with their yellow plum-like fruits, it adds much 

 to the interest of the tree. I have to acknowledge, how- 

 ever, that when they begin to drop their fruit it be- 

 comes a real nuisance, especially on the walks. 



Cephalotaxus, wliich are dioecious and have plum 

 shaped fruit, also, are only hardy in good sheltered sit- 

 uations. C. Fortuneii from China is the best, with 

 long, flat, soft glassy needles. C. drupacea from 

 Japan, where it is found as an undergrowth, is a lower 

 growing bush with shorter needles. C. pedunculata, 

 from .Japan, is most familiar in the variety fastigiata, 

 which looks like an Irish yew with much longer and 

 larger needles. It freezes liack very often and wants to 

 be well-watered. 



Torreya taxifolia, from Florida and myristica or Cal- 

 ifornica — ^the California nutmeg — are not hardy in 

 New England. T. nucifera. from Japan, is quite hardy 

 in shady, sheltered situations. In appearance it resem- 

 bles much cephalotaxus but has stronger, more bushy 

 growth, and has very sharp-pointed and stiff needles. 

 It burns on the sunny side in winter when exposed, but 

 grows out again. This tree is very little known and 

 is seldom seen in cultivation. It is dioecious like Ginkgo. 

 We have only male plants, and do not know if there is 

 a difference in the appearance of the two. In some 

 seedlings which we have some have much shorter 

 needles than others and a more Araucaria-lilvC growth. 

 The plants are only four years old, and I can not say 

 definitely about them. 



Taxus are very ornamental bushes where they can 

 be grown and when they are covered with their red 

 berry-like fruits they loolc very attractive. T. cana- 

 densis is our American yew. a low bush well-known, 

 very useful — but not much used — to plant under the 



trees in the woods as ground cover. It grows as well 

 in the open but does not lilvc the sun. T. Washingtonii 

 dnd repanda are probably forms of canadensis. The 

 first has a yellowish color which turns brown in winter 

 while repanda is very dark green and of spreading habit. 



T. baccata is the English yew. Every Englishman 

 is proud of the lieautiful old yews which are found in 

 his country and all tbe topiary work done with young 

 ones. Here we cannot say the same for it is only in 

 shady well-sheltered places that they will succeed. 

 There are quite a few varieties which can be grown 

 wherever the common one will stand. T. adpressa and 

 ad. stricta have very short roundish needles, very dis- 

 tinct from the others. They are sometimes known 

 under the name of tardiva, but we have from Japan one 

 tardiva which is very different. It is a low spreading 

 l)ush with longer needles, of a glossy dark-green color 

 variegated with bright yellow. Aurea, aurea pendula 

 and elegantissima are three good yellow-variegated 

 forms. Dovastonii and its variegated form are of 

 spreading habit with long, somewhat pendulous 

 branches with larger needles. Fastigiata or Hybernica 

 and their variegated forms are beautiful erect-growing 

 trees, but they are the tenderest of the lot. Erecta and 

 or. variegata are hardier; their growth is more fan- 

 sliaped, with smaller needles. There are many other 

 forms like Cheshuntensis, epacrioides. gracilis pendula, 

 etc., but the best for New England is albo-variegata, 

 raised in Germany. It is a good, bushy, straight- 

 grower, quite hardy and. when growing, is of a beautiful 

 cream color, which stands nearly the whole year. 



T. cuspidata and cusp, brevifolia are the best for our 

 region. They come from the northern part of Japan. 

 The growth is different from that of the English vew; 

 not so bushy, the branches long, well furnished with 

 short shoots, the needles thicker and of a lighter green 

 color. T. brevifolia from California and floridiana are 

 not hardy. 



Phyllocladus Vacrydium, Padocarpus, Prumniopitys 

 and Taxgothaea, whicli belong to the same tribe, are 

 not hardy and can only be grown in tubs like araucarias, 

 hay trees, and the like. Prumniopitys. which comes 

 from Japan, is the liardiest and could be tried in ex- 

 ceptionally sheltered situations. 



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