HARDY CONIFEROUS TREES 49 



spot in every collection, for although somewhat 

 tender in unfavourable districts, yet in many 

 places it has stood perfectly unharmed through 

 our most severe winters, when other so-called 

 hardy conifers were badly injured by the frost. 

 The branches are horizontally arranged, rather 

 tortuous, and covered with smooth, dark brown 

 bark, as in a young Sequoia, 



The leaves are various in colour, the oldest being 

 brownish green, while those produced during the 

 past five years are of all shades, from dark green 

 to the lightest and freshest of pea-green, with two 

 distinct silvery lines above, and two rather in- 

 distinct lighter -coloured bands on each side of 

 the prominent midrib beneath. They are lance- 

 shaped, 1 1 inches long, and slightly serrulated on 

 the edges. The cones are terminal, sub-erect, 

 I J to 1 1 inches long, and usually borne singly, and 

 about three on each branchlet. They are formed 

 of about thirty-six imbricated, persistent scales, 

 with three seeds beneath each, the whole cone thus 

 containing about one hundred seeds. A peculiarity 

 of the cones of this tree, and which, according to 

 Sir Joseph Hooker, sometimes occurs in spruces, 

 is that after being fully formed, the axis continues 

 to elongate, and produces leaves which are in no 

 way diferent from the ordinary foliage. Stranger 

 still, but this has not been noticed in any other 

 conifer, the elongated portion throws out buds 

 and produces twigs in the usual manner, the cone 

 gradually disappearing when, after the third year, 

 no trace of it can be detected, and the branch has 

 elongated to 6 or perhaps 8 inches. This conifer 

 throws up suckers from the base of the stem. 



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