124 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
the Yellow Cypress of British Columbia, Cupressus nutkaénsis, 
was discovered at Nootka Sound by Archibald Menzies, in 1794, 
but was not introduced into Europe till 1850, when it reached 
St Petersburg, and eventually arrived in Britain. Another 
interesting Conifer, the Japanese Thuia, 7'huiopsis dolobrata, was 
introduced in 1853 by Thomas Lobb, a collector of plants in the 
East for Mr Veitch of Exeter. From Japan, in 1854, Dr Siebold 
sent to Europe the Japanese Hemlock Fir, Abies T'suga; Pinus 
densiflora, and P. Massoniana, the two commonest pines in 
Japan, and very similar in their characteristics. 
In 1854 William Murray sent to Messrs Lawson & Son, 
nurserymen, Edinburgh, from North-West America, the Cypress 
named after the head of that firm, Cupressus Lawsoniana; and 
also introduced from the same regions, Abies Hookeriana, which 
so closely resembles Jeffrey’s Abies Pattoniana that they are now 
considered synonymous. 
In the year 1860, immediately after the Island Empire of Japan 
was opened to travellers, John Gould Veitch, a member of the 
eminent nursery firm of James Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, London, 
—the Exeter branch of which had'been so actively employed intro- 
ducing new plants, and especially of the newer Coniferz, in the 
forties and fifties,—resolved to visit that far-off land, to collect 
whatever he met with of interest to cultivators in this country of 
trees, shrubs, and other plants. Arriving in Japan about the 
same time as Mr Fortune, they covered a good deal of the same 
ground, and introduced to Britain simultaneously, in 1861, 
many valuable plants. With characteristic aptitude and energy, 
Mr Veitch practically cleared the ground he traversed, and left 
little of value for future travellers to gather up. Among the 
many fine acquisitions for which the lovers of Conifers are mainly 
or solely indebted to him for introducing, are Abzes aanensis, 
A. Alcoquiana, A. firma, A. polita, Cryptomeria elegans, Larix 
leptolepsis, Pinus koraiensis, P. parviflora, Retinospora obtusa, 
R. pisifera, R. plumosa, R. squarrosa, Sciadopitys verticillata, 
Juniperus rigida, and many other trees and shrubs, evergreen 
and deciduous, all brought home from Japan in 1861, These 
and other introductions from the islands of Japan have generally 
proved hardy and thrifty plants in Britain, and add greatly to the 
beauty and interest of our ornamental grounds and shrubberies, 
if but few of them have yet shown themselves to be serviceable 
to the forester, as trees to cultivate for their timber. 
