Thujopsis 203 



Several horticultural varieties have been introduced, viz. : 



3. Var. latevirens, Masters, Jour. Linn. Soc. {Bot), xviii, 486. 



Thujopsis leetevirens, Lindley, Gard. Chron. 1862, p. 428. 

 Thoujopsis dolabrata nana, Gordon, Pinetum, ed. 2, p. 399. 



A dwarf shrub having no definite leader, with slender and much -ramified 

 branchlets, and very small and bright green leaves. This variety often shows acicular 

 leaves, spreading all round the shoot, and is apparently a fixed seedling form. It 

 was introduced in 1861 from Japan by J. Gould Veitch. 



4. Var. variegata. This only differs from the ordinary cultivated form in 

 having the tips of many of the branchlets pale yellow or cream colour. It was 

 introduced by Fortune in 1861. 



Distribution 



Thujopsis dolabrata was discovered by Kaempfer,' who mentions it in his 

 Amoenitates Exoticce, p. 884, as "a kind of Finoki." His specimen is still preserved 

 in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, and was figured by Lambert^ 

 in his account of the species. ' Thunberg long afterwards (about 1776) sent 

 specimens to Linnaeus, who first gave a scientific description of the tree. Thun- 

 berg' cites the locality as follows : " Crescit in regionibus Oygawce et FakonicB, inter 

 Miaco et ledo." (A. H.) 



Thujopsis dolabrata in Japan is known under the name of Hiba, and is found 

 in a wild state north of about lat. 35, and in the southern part of this area 

 is a mountain tree only, occurring in the forest of the Kisogawa district from 

 about 3000 to 5000 feet. In the vicinity of Nikko it is common between about 

 4000 and 6000 feet according to Sargent, but I only saw it here near Lake Yumoto 

 where it did not appear to attain such large dimensions as farther north. The 

 variety found in the forests of Atera is distinct in its fruit from the northern form. 

 The excellent figure on Plate xi. in Shirasawa's Essences Foresti^res appears to be 

 taken from the southern variety. 



The northern form has been described by Makino as var. Hondai, but the latter 

 is not mentioned either by Goto or Shirasawa, nor is it recognised as specifically 

 distinct in any of the Japanese collections which I saw. Though the tree usually 

 occurs in mixture with Tsuga at Nikko, and with Sciadopitys at Atera, yet in the 

 extreme north of Japan, on the hills north of Aomori, it is found in pure forest on 

 hills of volcanic formation from near sea-level up to about 3000 feet. An 

 excellent account of the forest of Uchimappe is given in Forestry and Forest- Products 

 of Japan, where it is stated that the mountains are of Tertiary formation, and the 

 under-lying rock composed of tufa, sandstone, and slate. Pieces of this rock which 

 I brought home have been examined by Mr. Prior of the British Museum of 

 Natural History, who considers that in all probability they represent a rather basic 

 andesite or basalt, but owing to the weathered and decomposed state of the 

 specimens, satisfactory sections could not be made. I visited this forest in the 



' See Salisbury, _/(-. Science and Arts, 1817, ii. 313. ' Genus Pinus, ed. 2, ii. tab. 68 (1842). 



' Flora Japonica, 266 (1784), sub Thuya dolabrata, Linn, 



