PINACE.E 161 



tail-like, up to Ij in. in diameter. Leaves dark green, glossy, 

 incurved, closely overlapping and clasping the stem ; stiff, hard, 

 leathery, very variable in length, on different plants, often \-\ in. 

 long, j-^ in. wide at the base, short-pointed at the apex, stomata 

 very minute, on the upper surface only. Male catkins terminal, 

 2 in. long, 1 in. wide. Cones similar to those of A. CooJcii ; apex 

 of scale terminated by a spine-like growth f in. long. Seeds 

 about I in. long and iV, in. wide, wings narrow. 



Var. Goldieana, Hort. 



This differs from the type by its smaller leaves and neater 

 habit. 



Var. intermedia. 



Intermediate in foliage between A. Rulei and A. Coohii. 



A . Rulei is closely aUied to A . Cookii but is easily distinguished 

 by its larger and stiff er leaves. The varieties Goldieana and inter - 

 7nedia appear to connect the two. The species is very variable, 

 and whilst it has affinities with A. Cookii and A. Balansce at 

 one extreme, it bears a likeness to A. imbricata at the other. 

 In Museum 8 at Kew is a branch specimen collected in New 

 Caledonia which very strongly resembles A. imbricata. The 

 leaves are thick, leathery, 1|- in. long and | in. wide ; the margins 

 are, however, more incurved than those of the S. American tree. 

 This species was discovered by Mr. W. Duncan, botanical 

 collector to Mr. John Rule of Melbourne, near the summit of a 

 lofty volcano on an island near New Caledonia where it is exposed 

 to the violent hurricanes which sweep over that country. It 

 grows in rocky debris which becomes very dry and hard in summer 

 and is deluged with rain in winter. So inhospitable is the land 

 that not a blade of grass or other sign of vegetation exists for 

 hundreds of feet below. The whole group of trees in the locality 

 is limited to a radius of haK a mile. There is a small specimen 

 in the Temperate House at Kew. It is probable that the plant 

 may be hardy in Cornwall, but it is so scarce in cultivation that 

 few, if any, experiments in outdoor culture appear to have been 

 made. 



The Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, xviii, 905 (1907). 



ATHROTAXIS, Don. 



Tasmanian Cedars. 



Evergreen trees, natives of Tasmania, belonging to the 

 group Taxodinece of Pinacece. Bark slightly furrowed, fibrous. 

 Branches small, rather dense, irregularly disposed. Branchlets 

 spreading, the ultimate divisions deciduous as in Cryptomeria. 



M 



