72 CONIFERS AND TAXADS OF JAPAN 



I saw this tree growing wild near Toge station at about 800 m. altitude on the 

 borders of Uzen and Iwashiro provinces, around Yumoto in the Nikko region and 

 in the valley of the Kiso-gawa. Near Toge there were only a few scrubby trees and 

 this appears to be the northern limit of its range. Around Lake Yumoto, between 

 1600 and 1800 m. altitude, it grows in dense forests of Tsuga diversifolia Mast., 

 Abies homolepis S. & Z. and Thuja Standishii Carr., among and on humus-clad 

 boulders and on the edges of Sphagnum swamps. In the region drained by the 

 Kiso-gawa it grows on Ena-san and other mountains in Mino province and also on 

 those in southern Shinano, between 1100 and 1800 m. altitude, in dense forests 

 mixed with Sciadopitys verticillata S. & Z., Thuja Standishii Carr., Pinus parviflora 

 S. & Z. and the two species of Chamaecyparis; occasionally it forms pure stands. 

 In Kyushu it is reported by forestry officials from one isolated locality on the moun- 

 tains south from Oita in Bungo province. It is much grown in parks and gardens 

 in the milder parts of Japan, and round Gotemba and elsewhere on the lower slopes 

 of Fuji-san it is a common hedge plant. 



I saw no trees of the typical species comparable in size and beauty with those of 

 its northern variety Hondai Mak. Of the type the trees were all small, averaging 

 from 10 to 16 m. in height and from 1 to 1.5 m. in girth of trunk, which is usu- 

 ally curved at the base. In habit, in general appearance and in the character of 

 the wood the type is similar to its variety, but the cones are broadly ovoid, from 

 1.2 to 1.5 cm. long, and the cone-scales have a prominent, triangular umbo which 

 is pointed and often hooked. 



Thujopsis dolabrata is a favorite plant in gardens in Japan, where several 

 dwarf, variegated and otherwise abnormal forms have originated. In eastern 

 North America it has not proved very successful in cultivation and in the neigh- 

 borhood of Boston it is not hardy, but on the estate of William Minot at Matta- 

 poiset, Cape Cod, there are fine specimens 8 m. tall. Those who wish to cultivate 

 this conifer should bear in mind that it is an inhabitant of moist, dense forests, 

 where even as an adult tree it is shaded by its more lofty neighbors, Hemlock or 

 Fir. In Japan this Thujopsis is generally called Hiba, but it is also known as 

 Asunaro, and in Kiso, where it is counted among the five famous trees, it is called 

 Asuhi. 



This tree was first made known to us by Kaemper, who mentions it as "a kind 

 of Finoki " in his Amoenitates Exoticae (fasc. V. 884 [1712]), and his specimen 

 was figured by Lambert. Like the Sciadopitys it was introduced by the Dutch 

 to Java at an early date, and was sent to the Botanic Garden, Leyden, in 1853. 

 From Buitenzorg Thomas Lobb sent a plant to Messrs. Veitch in 1853. This plant 

 died soon after its arrival, but in 1859 Captain Fortescue, R.N., successfully in- 

 troduced a plant from Japan, and descendants of this plant are said to be still 

 growing at Castlehill, Devonshire. It was introduced into this country in 1861 by 

 Dr. George R. Hall, who sent plants by Mr. F. Gordon Dexter to Francis Parkman, 

 the historian, who lived at Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. In the same year John 

 Gould Veitch and Robert Fortune sent seeds from Japan to England, and from 

 these many plants were raised and distributed. 



Of the garden forms the var. nana Carriere (TraitS Conif. Ill [1855], syn. 

 T. laetevirens Lindley in Gard. Chron. 1862, 428) is perhaps the most useful. It 

 was introduced into England by John Gould Veitch in 1861. A variety of T. 

 dolabrata is 



Thujopsis dolabrata, var. Hondai Makino in Tokyo Bot. Mag. XV. 104 

 (1901). Elwes & Henry, Trees Gr. Brit. & Irel. II. 202 (1907). 



