172 CYPRESSES AND JUNIPERS 



C. NooTKATENSis. — ^The larger cones, the darker 

 pendulous foliage, the absence of white streaks on 

 the leaves beneath, the yellow flower, make the 

 identification of the Nootkatensis, as apart particu- 

 larly from the C. Lawsoniana, as clearly outstanding 

 as an undraped nigger in a snowfield. 



The distinction between the Lawson and the 

 ordinary C. Pisifera is a far harder nut to crack. In 

 using this metaphor it must be explained that we are 

 rather referring to the leaf than the cone differences. 

 Undoubtedly, if looked at closely, the leaf of the 

 C. Pisifera is a differently formed, more sharply 

 pointed leaf, and there seems little else to go by. As 

 the more original and natural form of Pisifera is far 

 more seldom seen than its more fluffy variety, the 

 Plumosa, or its more acicular silvery-looking variety, 

 the Squarrosa (which, by the way, is more commonly 

 spoken of as the Retinospora Squarrosa), the situation 

 of being called upon to decide between the two will 

 probably not be of frequent occurrence. 



C. Obtusa. — ^The intricacies of the Obtusa, and any 

 family likeness it may show to those in the same 

 Group, requires no genius to cope with. You have 

 only to look at the more densely crowded, thick, 

 cobby appearance and character of its shapes and 

 its leaves to arrive at a quick and sure conclusion. 

 If you look at it more closely, the small, round-shaped 

 little leaf on the upper facial (dorso -ventral) surface 

 in the middle, shouldered in between his two big 

 brother lateral leaves, recalls the impression made 

 in our early days of the picture of the Dormouse 

 snuggled up between the Hatter and March Hare, at 

 the mad tea party in Alice in Wonderland, 



As a tree it bears no mean record in his native 

 country Japan. It has a royal halo about it, since 

 it is reserved for uses imperial. It has also a religious 



