336 THE BOOK OP EVERGREENS. 



Syn. B. pendula, EndlicJier ; T. pendula, Lambert ; T. 

 filliformis, Loddiges, &c., &c. The Weeping Arbor Vita? 

 is the most graceful and decidedly pendulous of all Coni- 

 fers that will survive our northern winters. Its origin is 

 obscure. Some authors hold that it is a distinct and un- 

 doubted species, and others, (ourselves included,) that it is 

 only a marked variety, raised from the seed 'of 13. orien- 

 talis. Figured on the preceding page. 



A botanical friend, some years ago, for the purpose of 

 testing its true character, raised a quantity of young plants 

 from seed gathered from this tree, and the result was a 

 stock of unmistakable young Chinese Arbor Vitaes. "Not 

 in a single instance was there an exception. A subsequent 

 examination of the fruit has confirmed our opinion that 

 this plant is nothing more than a variety, but, we confess, 

 a very distinct and puzzling one. 



In a description of the specimen plant at the Turin Bo- 

 tanic Garden, Dr. Hooker says that the intelligent head- 

 gardener informed him of the same circumstance occurring 

 there that we have alluded to above. Wm. Loddiges, of 

 the Hackney Nursery, England, affirms that he picked out 

 this same Weeping Arbor Vitae from a bed of seedlings, 

 raised from seed of B. orientalis. He was under the im- 

 pression that it might be a hybrid between that species 

 and Juniperus Virginiana or J. Ghinensis. Dr. Hooker 

 mentions that Lambert " suspects it to be a native of the 

 parts of Tartary near China." 



The branches of this beautiful Arbor Vita3 curve grace- 

 fully to the ground, and, unlike the species, have acute 

 leaves. It has proven reasonably hardy with us, and in 

 most places throughout the Eastern and Middle States ; 

 those cases to the contrary are very probably in uncon- 

 genial soil. It is exceedingly difficult to root from cut- 

 tings, but does well grafted or inarched on the species. 



Var, hybrid a, Sort. A variety sent out by the French 



