522 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERS 



deducting 1 in. for bark, worked out at Douglas fir, 5,000 cubic ft. 

 per acre ; Thuya plicata 2,430 cubic ft. per acre, thus giving the 

 high total of 7,430 cubic ft. per acre for 36 years' growth. 

 Whether T. plicata is a suitable forest tree for the warmer parts 

 of the country is not certain, for timber produced by ornamental 

 trees in the mild climate of Falmouth has been found to be 

 worthless. In seasoning, considerable shrinkage occurred. The 

 shrinkage was chiefly in the summer wood and it was so great 

 that it caused triangular openings to appear between the annual 

 rings, the openings being ^-^ in. across. The autumn wood was 

 not fractured, but the shrinkage took place in the summer wood 

 throughout the log. In cooler parts of the country the wood is 

 normal. 



T. plicata withstands a good deal of shade and may be 

 employed for underplanting thin woods. Its dense branch 

 system makes it a suitable tree for the outskirts of plantations. 

 Whilst trees 5-6 ft. high may be moved successfully, it is an 

 advantage to place young trees in permanent places as early as 

 possible and even for gardens, trees 3 ft. high are often more 

 satisfactory than larger ones ; it is not, however, so difficult to 

 re-establish as are many conifers. It succeeds on good loams, 

 peat, and wet clayey soils, and withstands considerable cold. 

 Diseases are rare in this country, but young trees have been known 

 to be killed in large numbers by a fungus, apparently Botrytis 

 cinerea. 



Elwes and Henry, loc. cit. i, 184 (1906). 



Thuya sutchuenensis, Franchet. 



This species is not in cultivation and httle is known about it. 

 A description of the tree appeared in Journ. de Bot. (1899), p. 262, 

 and from that the following notes have been taken : — 



" A shrub or tree with a dense head of spreading branches 

 and flattened branchlets. Leaves very short, the lateral ones 

 curved at the apex, obtuse, boat-shaped, without glands, the 

 facial leaves grooved. Cones terminating short branchlets ; scales 

 8, overlapping, obovate, apex scarcely free, only slightly thickened. 

 Mature cones not seen." 



A very elegant species distinct from T. plicata by its more 

 closely arranged and overlapping branchlets, and by the shorter 

 leaves and the absence of glands. It also differs from T. japonica 

 in branches and leaves. 



T. sutchuenensis is a native of N.E. Szechuen, Cent. China, 

 and was collected by Pere Farges at an altitude of 1,400 metres 

 near Tchen-Kice. 



Masters, Journal Linnoean Society (Botany), xxvi, p. 540, 



