648 



SKETCH OF THE CONIFERS OF JAPAN.' 



called by them the Km-le-Sung, or Golden Pine, probably from 

 the rich yellow appearance which the ripened leaves and cones 



assume 



during the 



autumn. 



Although 



I have often made 



inquiries after it, and endeavoured to get the natives to bring me 

 some cones, or to take me to a place where such cones could bo 

 procured, I met with no success until last autumn. Then, how- 

 ever, I happened to visit a part of the country where I had not 

 been before, and quite unexpectedly came upon some fine spe- 



H _ 



4 



I 



Fig. 183. 



Fig. ISO. 



Fig. 181 



Fig. 



1S2 



.4 



Vl 



cimens of full-grown trees covered with ripe cones. They were 

 growing in the vicinity of a Buddhist monastery, in the western 

 part of the province of Chekiang, at an elevation of 1000 or 

 1500 feet above the level of the sea. Their stems measured 

 fully five feet in circumference, two feet from the ground, and 

 carried this size with a slight diminution to a height of 50, 

 that being the height of the lower branches. The total height 

 i estimated about 120 or 130 feet. The stems were perfectly 

 Straight throughout, the branches symmetrical, slightly inclined 

 to the horizontal form, and having the appearance of something 

 between the Cedar and Larch. 

 no doubt, the result of their growing close together, and thickly 

 surrounded with other trees, for I have since seen a single spe- 

 cimen growing by itself on a mountain side at a much higlier 

 elevation, whose lower branches almost touched the ground. 



•'I need scai-cely say how pleased I was witlx the discovery I 

 bad made, or with what delight, with the permission of the good 

 priests, I procured a large supply of those curious cones sent to 

 England last winter. It was with great regret I read in this paper, 

 {Gardeners^ Chronicle) and in a letter from Mr. Glendinning, 



The long branchless stems were, 



