LIBOCEDRUS LIGUSTRUM 23 



L. DECURRENS, Torrey. INCENSE CEDAR. 



A tree 125 to 150 ft. high in a wild state, with a trunk occasionally 7 ft. in 

 diameter. Numerous trees between 50 and 70 ft. high are to be found in this 

 country, all marked by a stiff columnar or narrowly pyramidal habit. The 

 branches are erect, and have their branchlets and leaves set vertically or 

 edgewise instead of horizontally, so that they are equally exposed to the light 

 on both sides, and are uniformly green on both surfaces. Leaves in four rows 

 and in opposite pairs ; about \ in. long, free only at the sharp points, the lower 

 part appressed to and completely covering the branchlet, dark glossy green. 

 Cones erect, f in. long, J to \ in. wide at the base, tapered. Seeds four, \ in. 

 long, awl-shaped, with a large wing on one side and a small one on the other. 



Native of Oregon and California ; introduced by Jeffrey for the Oregon 

 Association of Edinburgh in 1853 ; discovered seven years previously by Col. 

 Fremont. It is frequently called Thuya gigantea (Carriere] in gardens, but is 

 quite distinct from the tree to which that name properly belongs, whose 

 horizontally spreading branchlets showing white stomata beneath are quite 

 different (see Thuya plicata). 



Libocedrus decurrens grows rather slowly, but should be represented in 

 every garden large enough to accommodate it, because of its distinct and formal 

 shape admirable for a group planted as Lombardy poplars sometimes are. 

 A very fine tree about 70 ft. high, and quite columnar, perhaps the best in the 

 country, is in the Royal demesne of Frogmore. A hardy species, thriving best 

 in moist, deep loam. In Italy the branches are more spreading and the tree 

 more broadly pyramidal than is usual with us. 



Var. VARIEGATA. Pieces of the shoots entirely yellow. These pieces vary 

 in size from bits of branchlet \ in. long, to pieces 2 to 3 ins. across, giving the 

 tree a curious spotted appearance. 



LIGUSTRUM. PRIVET. OLEACE^. 



There are about fifteen hardy species of Ligustrum introduced to 

 this country, all of which are natives of China or Japan, with the 

 exception of the common privet, found in Europe and England. The 

 genus is exclusively Old World, and reaches from China through the 

 Himalaya, etc., to Java, the Philippines, and Australia. Leaves opposite, 

 never toothed. Flowers of some shade of white, borne in terminal 

 panicles. Calyx scarcely or only minutely toothed ; corolla tubular, with 

 four spreading lobes. Stamens two, attached to the tube of the corolla. 

 Fruit a berry, usually black, or black with a purplish bloom. 



Whilst the privets as a whole are not amongst the most attractive 

 of hardy shrubs, a few of them are either striking or useful. One of the 

 worst points about them is the penetrating odour of the flowers heavy, 

 and to most people objectionable. The privets are easily cultivated 

 in any soil that is not very impoverished, and they can be rooted from 

 cuttings about as easily as any shrubs, either with or without a little heat. 

 A selection for the garden would be as follows : 



For flower sinense and Quihoui ; for foliage lucidum, japonicum, ovali- 

 folium aureum ; for planting in dark damp places vulgare, ovalifolium ; for 

 hedges ovalifolium (tall), Prattii (dwarf). 



