4 CONIFERS AND TAXADS OF JAPAN 



I saw this tree growing wild in the forests at the base of the active volcano 

 Higashi-Kirishima, near the hamlet of Arasho in Osumi province, Kyushu. These 

 forests are evergreen and composed largely of Oaks such as Quercus gilva Bl., 

 Q. glauca Thunb., Q. acuta Thunb., Q. myrsinaefolia BL, and various members of 

 Lauraceae, among which Machilus Thunbergii S. & Z. is dominant; Distylium race- 

 mosum S. & Z. and such conifers and taxads as Abies firma S. & Z., Pinus densiflora 

 S. & Z., P. Thunbergii Pari., Tsuga Sieboldii Carr., Cephalotaxus drupacea S. & Z. and 

 Torreya nucifera S. & Z. are also common. The undergrowth is chiefly Aucuba japo- 

 nica Thunb. and Skimmia japonica Thunb. The Podocarpus trees are not large, 

 being from 16 to 20 m. tall and in girth of trunk from 1 to 1.5 m. The trunk is 

 straight and is clothed with gray, shallowly fissured, shreddy bark. The branches 

 are short, thin, very numerous and spreading, and the aspect of the tree is decidedly 

 sombre. The leaves are narrow-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, very dark green, and 

 occasionally somewhat glaucous beneath. The fruit is about the size of a garden 

 pea, greenish and pruinose or sometimes purplish and is seated upon a fleshy pur- 

 ple-colored receptacle. The wood is yellowish brown and very durable in water, 

 but the tree is so rare that the wood has no recognized market value. 



Japanese names for this Podocarpus are Kusa-maki, Inu-maki, Hon-maki or 

 simply Maki. It is a great favorite in gardens, cemeteries and temple grounds 

 everywhere in the warmer parts of Japan, and is in general use as a hedge plant 

 and in topiary work. The leaves vary in size and are sometimes variegated, and 

 in cultivation several varieties are recognized. A form with large leaves is f . grandi- 

 folius Pilger (in Engler, Pflanzenr. IV.-5, 80 [Taxaceae] [1903]) and another with 

 narrow leaves is f. angustifolius Pilger (1. c). 



I have seen specimens of this tree from the Liukiu Islands and from Formosa, 

 but I do not know if they were from wild or cultivated trees. The species is very 

 closely related to the Indian P. neriifolius D. Don and it is doubtful if the two are 

 really distinct. Like a number of other Japanese plants, P. macrophyllus was first 

 made known in the West by Kaempfer under its vernacular name of Maki (Amoen. 

 fasc. V. 78 [1712]), and his specimen is figured by Banks under Thunberg's name 

 of Taxus macrophylla. According to Aiton (Hart. Kew. ed. 2, V. 416 [1813]) it 

 was introduced from China, by William Kerr, to Kew in 1804. It was taken to 

 Java by the Dutch probably from Japan at an early date and Siebold says it was 

 introduced into Holland in 1830. On subsequent dates it has been sent or brought 

 to Europe and it is one of the many plants which Dr. George R. Hall brought from 

 Japan to this country in March, 1862. The Maki is too tender for cultivation in 

 the Northern States, but it thrives in California and in the Southern States. In 

 Great Britain and in Europe generally it can only be grown in the open ground in 

 the mildest regions. A variety of this species is 



Podocarpus macrophyllus, var. maki Siebold in Jaarb. Nederl. Maatsch. 

 Aanmoed. Tuinb. 1844, 35 (Naaml.) . Endlicher, Syn. Conif. 216 (1847). 

 Miquel in Siebold & Zuccarini, Fl. Jap. II. 71, t. 134 (1870). Maximowicz in 

 Bull. Acad. Sri. St. PStersbourg, ser. 3, XV. 380 (1871); in Mel. Biol. VII. 562 

 (1871). 



Taxus chinensis Roxburgh, Hort. Bengal. 73 (1814). 



Podocarpus chinensis Sweet, Hort. Brit. 371 (1827). Tanaka, Useful PI. Jap. 66, 



fig. 578 (1891). 

 Juniperus chinensis Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. ed. 2, III. 840 (not Linnaeus) (1832). 

 Taxus Makoya Forbes, Pinet. Woburn. 218 (1839). 



