HARDY CONIFEROUS TREES 25 



able tree for planting in these isles, it usually 

 wearing a shabby, starved appearance, being thin 

 of foliage and the branch tips cut back and arrested 

 by cold winds and frost. The leaves are dark 

 green above and silvery beneath ; but the whole 

 aspect of the tree greatly reminds one of a stunted 

 specimen of the Common Silver Fir. The best 

 specimens in this country are growing in stiff, 

 dampish, clayey loam, on the northern side of a 

 sharply rising hill. 



A. Veitchii, Lindley. (Synonyms : Picea 

 Veitchii, Hort, ; Pinus selenolepis, Parlatore ; Abies 

 nephrolepis, Maximowicz.) Mountains of Japan. 

 1879. — This is a tree of neat and spiral growth, 

 and is so far the most rapid grower of the Japanese 

 species. In several ways it is a very desirable 

 conifer, the narrow grass green leaves, with two 

 silvery white lines on the under sides, and well- 

 branched trunk, rendering it very distinct and 

 pleasing. The tree is usually slender in outline, 

 the branches short and irregularly disposed, and 

 the leaves, some of which are bifid at the tips, 

 fully three-fourths of an inch long. The cones, 

 which have been produced in this country, are 

 about 3 inches in length, oval-shaped, and with 

 the acuminate bracts projecting beyond and bent 

 downwards over the scales. It has been found 

 perfectly hardy in several parts of the country, 

 and is truly an alpine species of rare beauty, that 

 is yet destined to an exalted place in our parks 

 and woods. Specimens planted under favourable 

 conditions have attained to a height of 10 feet in 

 ten years, the branch spread being fully as much 

 as the height. 



