24 CONIFERS AND TAXADS OF JAPAN 



but specimens before me from Shikoku and from Hidaka province in Hokkaido 

 are absolutely identical in every respect. They exhibit the same variation in size 

 and shape of cone, size and shape of seed-wing, length of leaves and in the degree 

 of pubescence on the shoots. After careful study in the field and a critical ex- 

 amination of much material I cannot discover any character by which two Japanese 

 Strobus Pines, or a species with a variety or a form, can be distinguished. The 

 slight differences in the bark mentioned by Mayr are due to age and the position 

 in which the trees have grown. Everywhere in Japan this White Pine is common 

 in gardens as a dwarfed tree in pots, or planted in the open ground. Usually it is 

 kept clipped and is trained into various shapes. In the garden of the Kinkakuji 

 Temple at Kyoto one of these Pines is fashioned to represent a native boat with all 

 sails set. A picture of the curious specimen is given on page 384 of Veitch's Man- 

 ual of Conifer ae (ed. 2), but the author is wrong in considering it to be either P. 

 Thunbergii Pari, or P. densiflora S. & Z. These stunted White Pines with short 

 leaves and branches look very different from the free-growing trees and it is easy 

 to imagine them belonging to a distinct species. The Japanese graft this Pine 

 and others on P. Thunbergii Pari., and this fact, which does not appear to have 

 been understood before, accounts for the difference in its appearance and rate of 

 growth. It is well known that White Pines do not thrive when grafted on Hard 

 Pines; in fact many propagators claim that such grafting cannot be done. In 

 Japan I saw the whole process and made specimens of grafted P. parviflora which 

 show clearly growths from the stock with the white winter-bud characteristic of 

 P. Thunbergii Pari. In Europe and North America there are in cultivation both 

 grafted and seedling plants of P. parviflora, and these are easily distinguished by 

 their appearance. If the base of a plant with short needles and branches be ex- 

 amined the point of union of scion and stock can usually be seen, for the stock 

 grows much more rapidly than the scion. On cultivated and grafted plants of the 

 Japanese White Pine the cones vary much in size, and on Adzuma-san I found as 

 much variation in the size of cones on the scrub growth as on tall trees. 



Siebold & Zuccarini founded their P. parviflora on specimens from cultivated 

 and probably grafted trees, and the cone in their plate is small but not abnor- 

 mally so, and the one figured as the cone of P. koraiensis, which is that of P. 

 parviflora, is typical. Mayr founded his P. pentaphylla on wild or seedling trees 1 

 and apparently selected for his type those with the largest cones he could find. 

 My investigations and collections show conclusively that only one species of the 

 Strobus group of Pinus grows wild in Japan. Shaw refers the Formosan P. mor- 

 risonicola Hayata (in Gard. Chron. ser. 3, XLIII. 194 [1908]) to P. parviflora, but 

 this is an error. I have seen the type of Hayata's plant and it is certainly a dis- 

 tinct species. 



The native names of P. parviflora are Goyo-matsu and Hime-komatsu and 

 Japanese gardeners distinguish a number of forms, including one (f . variegata Mayr) 

 with variegated leaves. In eastern North America this Pine is very satisfactory 

 and is perfectly hardy. Trees raised from seeds grow freely, are densely branched 

 and the branches are very long and straight. The appearance of these trees is 

 very different from old wild trees in the forests of Japan, with their narrow, scraggy 

 crowns. As it grows in this Arboretum the Japanese White Pine is an ornamental 

 and valuable tree. 



1 Dr. Shirasawa told me that from conversation with Dr. Mayr he was of the opinion that the 

 trees by the bronze tori in front of the Chuzenji Temple are those on which Mayr based his species. 

 These are planted seedling trees and have large cones. 



