THE GIANT ARBOR-VITvE. 341 



XVII. The Giant Arhor-Vitce (Thuja gigantea). By A. D, 

 Webster, Holwood, Kent. 



The climate of Great Britain is well suited for the culture of 

 this handsome, fast^growing, and valuable timber-producing tree, 

 as it thrives luxuriantly in a cool moist soil, and although intro- 

 duced only thirty-six years ago, there are numerous specimens 

 fully 70 feet in height to be met with in various parts of the 

 country. 



Perhaps the name of no other tree has been the subject of 

 so much confusion ; even the honour and date of its introduc- 

 tion to Britain is a matter of dispute. Veitch's " Manual of 

 Coniferse " states that it was introduced by them, through their 

 collector, William Lobb, in 1853, — a statement which receives 

 little credence from Edinburgh authorities ; for in the " Trans- 

 actions and Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh," 

 1872, Mr James M'Nab tells us that " a Thuja, raised from seed, 

 and proved to be the true Thuja gigantea (Yellow Cypress), is 

 another acquisition first sent by Jeffrey. At first the seedlings 

 resembled Thtija occidentalis, and little attention for a time was 

 paid to them." 



This statement is rendered all the more probable by specimens 

 taken from three of the ti'ees raised from seed sent home by 

 Jeffrey to the Oregon Association, and now growing in the Botanic 

 Garden at Edinburgh, which were recognised, about three years 

 ago, by some of the Kew authorities as " forms of the true Thuja 

 gigantea." It is also well to remember that both T. gigantea 

 and the nearly allied T. plicata grow side by side in their native 

 wilds, which, coupled with the fact that two more of Jeffrey's 

 seedlings were recognised by the same authorities as T. plicata, 

 goes far to substantiate Mr M'Nab's remarks. When sending 

 the specimens to Kew for examination, the Curator of the Edin- 

 burgh Botanic Garden stated they were from plants " raised from 

 seeds sent to Edinburgh by Jeffrey in 1851." This statement, 

 along with the recognition of the specimens by so high an authority 

 as forms of the true T. gigantea, gives Jeff"rey's claim two years 

 of priority over that of Lobb. The tree under notice has also 

 been named T. Menziesii, and T. Lohhi. It is, however, the true 

 T. gigantea which was first described by Nuttall in his " Plants 

 of the Rocky Mountains," and this is now the recognised name. 



