GENUS PODOCARPUS. 105 



a specimen at Penrhyn Castle having remained in position 

 and quite intact for fifteen years. The appearance presented 

 by the annually increasing cones is very singular and curious. 



PODOCARPUS (L'Heritier). 



Flowers dioecious, rarely monoecious. 



Fruit drupaceous. 



Seeds hard, covered with a bony shell. 



Leaves differing greatly in shape and arrangement on in- 

 dividual trees — opposite, alternate, or scattered ; and linear 

 or oblong. 



Cotyledons two, leafy. 



Trees or shrubs with leathery dark green leaves, but ex- 

 hibiting great diversity of foliage. Natives of the temperate 

 zones of Asia, Africa, and America. 



Podocarpus alpina, Brown. The Alpine Podocarp, 

 — Conifers from the Antipodes are not generally hardy in this 

 country, but at the present time this distinct and very interest- 

 ing Tasmanian conifer may be seen in excellent condition in 

 an old-fashioned garden in the neighbourhood of London, 

 and where it has stood unharmed for the past fifteen years. 

 It is of low-spreading growth, with but little inclination 

 to retain a leading shoot, the branches weak and pendulous, 

 and the foliage thickly produced, yew-like in appearance, 

 each leaf about i an inch or i inch long, and dark green in 

 colour. The prominent rib along the underside of the leaf is 

 always present. The fruit is about the size of a cherry, with 

 a single, bony-shelled seed within. 



A very neat specimen of this highly interesting conifer has 

 been brought about by side-pruning and tying the main lead- 

 ing shoot to a support, and as it bears pruning well the 

 method is to be recommended when the flat-spreading habit 

 is wished to give place to that of more upright growth. 



