Coniferous {Trees* 199 



for evergreen hedges ; and choicer varieties for groups and 

 as specimen trees, while some of the smaller kiDds look fine 

 in a rockery. 



Japanese Arbor- Vitae, Thuyopsis dolabrata. This is a 

 beautiful tree of a pyramidal habit with thick shoots and 

 scale-like, fleshy leaves. It is of a fine green color, is proba- 

 bly the most ornamental of the arbor-vitses, and very hardy. 

 Fine for a specimen tree in a choice position on the lawn. 



Juniper, Juniperus. The junipers are common trees 

 on heaths, in barren and sandy soil, and in America in 

 old fields. The common juniper (J. communis) is a very 

 variable tree, generally of a fresh green color, with a more or 

 less irregularly pyramidal habit. There are two common 

 kinds grown in gardens the Irish and the Swedish juniper. 

 They are both of a columnar habit, with silvery or glaucous 

 leaves. As an ornamental tree, the typical form is by far 

 the best. Red cedar (J. virginiana) is a common tree on 

 stony and sandy soil, on hillsides, and in old fields. Certain 

 varieties of a columnar habit, and of a more or less glaucous 

 color, are common all over the country. The Chinese juni- 

 per (J. chinensis) is also common in cultivation. The 

 savin (J. Sabina) is a low, procumbent shrub, fine for 

 rockeries. 



There are a few singular forms, belonging to various 

 divisions of the coniferous family, which are quite orna- 

 mental but rare in gardens. 



The Umbrella Pine, Sciadopytis verticillata, is one of 

 these. It is a dwarf, slow-growing tree with long, rigid 

 leaves, collected in umbrella-like rosettes at the apex of the 



