244 THE BOOK OF EVERGREENS. 



so, in fact, than any Conifer we have tested. In many in- 

 stances where the plant has not been immediately killed 

 by the remoral, the lower branches have been disfigured 

 and the outline entirely destroyed. Great care should 

 consequently be taken in the operation, and the roots al- 

 ways preserved from undue exposure to the air. The 

 names that have been applied to this tree are remarkable 

 illustrations of departure from the accepted rules of bo- 

 tanical nomenclature. Lindley, against both rule and 

 taste, called it Wellingtonia gigantea. Kellogg, of Cali- 

 fornia, not willing that a California tree should bear the 

 name of a British soldier, with equal impropriety called it 

 Washingtoma gigantea / Americanus gigantea has also 

 been proposed. Doct. Torrey plainly showed that it be- 

 longed to the old genus Sequoia, and most English botan- 

 ists now admit that it is properly placed here ; but instead 

 of accepting Torrey's specific name, gigantea, they now 

 call the tree Sequoia Wellingtonia, which is quite at va- 

 riance with accepted rules. 



2. S. sempervirens, jEndlicher. RED-WX>OD. Syn. 

 Taxodium sempervirens, Lambert. Leaves, from ^ to an 

 inch long, linear, smooth, distichous, flat, acute, coriaceous, 

 dark shining green, glaucous beneath. Branches, numer- 

 ous, horizontal, and spreading. Cones, 1 inch long, round- 

 ish, solitary, and terminal, with numerous, thick, rough, 

 trapezoidal scales, furnished with a strong, obtuse point, 

 and terminating below in a stout, angular pedicel. Seeds, 

 from 3 to 5 under each scale. 



This species is also a magnificent tree, and is much more 

 plentiful than the preceding, and also occupies a more 

 extended range of country. It was first discovered by 

 Menzies on our north-west coast in the year 1796, and sub- 

 sequently by Dr. Coulter in 1836, and by Hartweg at a 

 more recent date. The latter explorer mentions finding 

 specimens of this tree 270 feet in height, with a clean 

 trunk 60 or 70 feet high, growing on the mountains of 



