OBSERVATIONS ON HARDINESS. 135 



it grows at an elevation of 2,500 to 2,900 feet, while in the 

 Tyrolese and Swiss Alps it reaches an altitude of 6,500 feet. 

 Some of the dwarf forms of this are not as hardy as the type. 



Picea orientalis, from the Caucasian region, while hardy, 

 has proved a slow grower. I use the word hardy somewhat ad- 

 visedly, as of the eight or nine plants set out in 1903, all but 

 three or four died during the succeeding winter. All the plants 

 which survived were derived from one source, perhaps originally 

 from seed from trees growing in a climate more nearly ap- 

 proaching that here. Another species of Europe, with an ex- 

 tremely limited range, is Picea Omorika, confined to the moun- 

 tains of southwest Servia and the spurs leading therefrom. It 

 grows at an elevation of from 2.000 to 4,000 feet. It is odd in 

 having its nearest botanical relatives in P. Sitchensis, of north- 

 western North America, and P. Ajanensis, of Japan. Five 

 plants of it have been in the pinetum since the spring of 1903. 

 They have proved perfectly hardy in an exposed situation, 

 having passed through two unusually severe winters during that 

 period. They are trim in habit, a clean green, and keep their 

 branches right down to the ground. 



From Japan come two of the species in cultivation. These 

 are P. Ajanensis and P. polita, the former also extending to the 

 mainland in the Amur region. Picea Ajanensis is found in 

 Japan mainly on the island of Yezo, and on the island of Sag- 

 halin and the Kurile Islands to the northward, extending south- 

 ward to about 35° in the island of Flondo. It is said to be par- 

 ticularly at home in the cold stv^ampy plains of the western side 

 of the island of Yezo, and this perhaps accounts for its lack of 

 interest in our climate. With us it has been a slow grower, 

 its location here perhaps being too dry. Picea ]\Iaximowiczii, 

 which is said by some to be a form of P. obovata, has proved 

 hardy. Its origin is somewhat obscure, but it is said to have 

 come from Japan. Its nearest relative, however, is apparently 

 P. obovata, a Siberian species. P. polita, now exceedingly rare 

 in a wild state in Japan, but extensively cultivated there, has 

 proved adapted to this climate. Its range, as indicated by the 

 few remaining trees in a wild state, appears to have been in the 

 mountains from the southern part of Japan to as far north as 



