Coniferous threes. 195 



hi^b sandy loam and a somewhat sheltered position are 

 essential to success in their cultivation. 



THE CYPRESS FAMILY. 



The trees of this family are distinguished botanically 



by their small and often fleshy cones, the scales of which 

 often unite to form a dry berry as in juniper. They have 

 more or less scaly or prickly leaves. Some of the largest 

 known trees belong to this family, as the common redwood 

 of the Pacific slopes. The dwarf est and smallest members 

 of the coniferous family also belong here. 



Japanese Cypress, Cryptomeria japonica. — This is a very 

 picturesque tree with a slender stem, and few but huge 

 branches that descend from the stem and ascend again 

 at the apex. The leaves are crowded and scaly, and the 

 sprays are fiat and frondlike. It succeeds best as an under- 

 growth in deciduous shrubberies and woods on hillsides, 

 and on the sides of ravines in moderately good soil with an 

 open or gravelly subsoil. Planted as a lawn tree in the full 

 blaze of the sun, it will not endure in the North. 



White Cedars, Chamcecyparis (IZetinospord), a very 

 large genus of dwarf or medium-sized trees and shrubs, of 

 very varied aspect and habit. The majority are perfectly 

 hardy, as they are inhabitants of high altitudes and of the 

 North. The largest are Lawson's cypress, the Nootka cedar, 

 and the Japanese cedar. The first one (Ch.Lawsonia.7id) is 

 a well-known ornamental tree with flat, feathery sprays. It 

 has numerous garden varieties, varying greatly in form and 

 color. The best of these are : albo-variegata, with white 



