PINACEAE. THUJA STANDISHII 75 



Kent in Veitch, Man. Conif. ed. 2, 244 (1900). Shirasawa, Icon. Ess. For. Jap. 



I. 28, t. 11, fig. 18-34 (1900). Komarov in Act. Hort. Petrop. XX. 206 (Fl. 



Mandsh. I.) (1901). Matsumura, Ind. PI. Jap. II. pt. 1, 18 (1905). Elwes 



& He^ry, Trees Gr. Brit. & Irel. I. 195 (1906). 

 Thuya gigantea Parlatore in De Candolle, Prodr. XVI. pt. 2, 457 (as to the Japanese 



plant, not Nuttall) (1868). 

 Thuya gigantea, var. Japonica Franchet & Savatier, Enum. PL Jap. I. 469 (1875). 



The only place where I saw this tree wild in quantity was in the ascent of 

 Adzuma-san from Toge on the borders of Uzen and Iwashiro provinces. There 

 on steep slopes beyond the hot springs between 1000 and 1300 m. altitude it is 

 common growing with Thujopsis dolabrata, var. Hondai Mak., Tsuga diversifolia 

 Mast., Pinus parviflora S. & Z. and such broad-leaved trees as Betula Ermanii 

 Cham., B. corylifolia Regel, Fagus Sieboldii Endl. and Quercus mongolica, var. 

 grosseserrala Rehd. & Wils., but all the Thuja trees are small. Around Yumoto, 

 in the Nikko region, between 1800 and 2300 m. altitude it grows scattered through 

 mixed forests with Tsuga diversifolia Mast., Abies homolepis S. & Z., Larix Kaemp- 

 feri Sarg., Picea jezoensis Carr., Thujopsis dolabrata S. & Z. and various broad- 

 leaved trees principally Birches. I saw it wild nowhere else, but it is known 

 from the slopes of the high mountains in Kaga, Hida and Shinano provinces in 

 central Hondo. Komarov and Nakai say that it is wild in northern Korea. In 

 the valley of the Kiso-gawa it is called the Nezu and in former days, when all the 

 forests of Kiso were owned by the Daimyo of Owari, stringent forestry laws were 

 enforced; and although ordinary trees might be cut by any one the Nezu, Hinoki 

 (Chamaecyparis obtusa S. & Z.), Sawara (C. pisifera S. & Z.), Asuhi (Thujopsis 

 dolabrata S. & Z.) and the Keaki (Zelkova serrata Mak.) might not have so much 

 as a twig broken off, armed foresters being placed to shoot all wood-poachers. 

 Any peasant found in possession of a utensil made of one of these five forbidden 

 kinds of wood was arrested. This paternal despotism had at least the effect 

 of producing splendid forests. Immense havoc was done during the turmoil 

 which ushered in the new regime and only since about 1890 has serious attention 

 again been turned to forest preservation. 



The largest tree of the Japanese Thuja I saw was in the forests beyond Yumoto 

 village and was about 15 m. tall with a short trunk 3.5 m. in girth. The average 

 trees are from 12 to 16 m. tall and from 1.5 to 2.6 m. in girth of trunk. The trunk 

 is short and buttressed and usually divides a few feet from the ground into two 

 or several thick stems. The lateral branches are slender and very numerous, spread 

 horizontally and are upturned at the ends and form a dense, pyramidal crown. 

 The bark is thin, smooth and papery, reddish brown with scattered pale gray 

 blotches of irregular size. The foliage is pale green and the tree is attractive and 

 ornamental. The fruit is narrow-ovoid, 1 cm. long and ascending. The wood is 

 pale brown, light and of good quality and is cut into thin boards and used for 

 ceilings and other interior work; it also makes durable shingles. The tree, how- 

 ever, is now too rare to be of any great economic value. 



Like the Chamaecyparis and Thujopsis the Japanese Thuja delights in moist 

 rocky slopes and a northerly exposure. It is rare in cultivation in eastern North 

 America, where it is quite hardy as far north at least as Boston. Other Japanese 

 names for this tree are Kurobi, Nezuko and Goro-hiba. 



Thuja Standishii was discovered in 1860 in the gardens of Tokyo by Robert 

 Fortune, who sent seeds to the nursery of Mr. Standish at Ascot, England. A 

 year or so later it was found in the same gardens by C. Maximowicz. In the Hunne- 



