72 CONIFEROUS TREES 



tree, but situation must be attended to. Prefer- 

 able, perhaps, is soil of a peaty loam or rich alluvial 

 deposit, the latter particularly if a certain pro- 

 portion of sand is present. Situation is evidently 

 of far more importance, and this should always 

 be sheltered and free from cold draughts, else the 

 tree soon assumes a wretched and meagre appear- 

 ance. It has attained to nearly 50 feet in height in 

 various parts of Great Britain. The timber produced 

 in its native country is highly valued, and good 

 examples of it may be seen in the museum at Kew. 



FITZROYA, Hooker fiL 



Flowers dioecious. 



Cones solitary, terminal, globose or star-shaped, and con- 

 sisting of nine scales. 



Seeds winged, three under each fertile scale. 



Leaves usually three-ranked, flat, stalkless, and loosely 

 imbricated. 



An evergreen tree or shrub found on the Patagonian 

 Mountains. In this country it rarely exceeds 18 feet in height. 



FiTZROYA PATAGONiCA, Hooker fiL Mountains 

 of Western Patagonia, Chile, Valdivia. 1849. — 

 Though this tree thrives well in certain places and 

 becomes a decidedly ornamental conifer, yet it is 

 not to be recommended for general planting unless 

 in the more favoured and warmer parts of the 

 country. When seen, however, under favourable 

 conditions, it is both distinct and ornamental, the 

 deep green of the long whipcord - like branchlets, 

 which are usually arranged in irregular semi- 

 drooping masses, rendering fair-sized specimens 

 different in appearance from almost every other 

 conifer. It forms no permanent leader, but rather 



