598 TORREYA 



either on the same or separate trees (solitary examples have borne fertile 

 seed in this country) ; the male flowers are solitary in the leaf-axils, and 

 composed of six to eight whorls of stamens. Fruit egg-shaped, a thin, 

 tough, fleshy layer enclosing a large, bony seed. 



Like allied groups, the Torreyas are of interest in representing on a 

 few isolated spots Florida, California, China, and Japan a type of 

 vegetation that in earlier geological periods occupied much of the earth's 

 surface. They are, perhaps, of more scientific than horticultural interest, 

 but T. nucifera and T. californica are well worth a place in warm, 

 sheltered gardens. They like a good loamy soil, and the Floridan species 

 is found on limestone. They should, if possible, be increased by seeds, 

 failing which cuttings may be employed. T. TAXIFOLIA, Arnott, the 

 "Stinking Cedar" of Florida, does not appear to be in cultivation. 



T. CALIFORNICA, Torrey. CALIFORNIAN NUTMEG. 

 (T. Myristica,/. D. Hooker, Bot. Mag., 4780.) 



A tree 50 to 70 ft. high in California (rarely 100 ft.), with a straight, erect 

 trunk and whorled branches; branches horizontal ; branchlets pendulous, 

 bearing the leaves in two flattish ranks. Leaves spreading at angles of 

 45. to 70 to the twig; ij to 3 ins. long, about \ in. wide; slightly convex, 

 linear, with a slender spine-tipped point; dark glossy green above; yellowish 

 green with a glaucous band of stomata each side the midrib beneath. The 

 foliage as a whole is hard, stiff, and well armed by the needle-like points. 

 Male flowers egg-shaped, \ in. long, pale yellow. Fruit olive-like green, 

 ultimately streaked with purple, about i^ ins. long by i in. wide, a thin, 

 resinous flesh covering the grooved shell of the seed. 



Native of California, where it is widely spread, but not abundant; 

 introduced in 1851. This interesting and handsome tree appears to be best 

 suited for the milder parts of the country, and one of the best specimens in 

 the country is at Tregothnan, in Cornwall, 45 ft. high. It has, nevertheless, 

 withstood 32 of frost at Kew, and, among other places, has borne fertile seed 

 as far north as Orton Hall, Peterborough. Its foliage much resembles that 

 of Abies bracteata, and is distinct in its length from the other species. In 

 the south of England this tree deserves a wide-r trial than it has yet received. 

 The popular name refers to the outward likeness of the seed to a nutmeg, but 

 it has, of course, no similar qualities. 



T. NUCIFERA, Siebold. 



A tree in Japan occasionally 80 ft. high, oftener a shrub or small tree 20 

 to 30 ft. high; in cultivation, so far as I have seen, always of a shrubby 

 character, and not more than 10 or 12 ft. high. Young shoots green, 

 becoming in succeeding years purplish and shining. Leaves linear, | to i^ 

 ins. long, to ^ in. wide; tapered at the upper part to a slender, stiff point; 

 very dark glossy green above, and with two glaucous stomatic strips 

 beneath. The leaves (somewhat convex on the upper surface, stiff and hard 

 in texture) are borne in two spreading ranks, which form a broad V-shaped 

 channel. Fruits green, elliptical, i to i^ ins, long, f in. wide. They are 

 occasionally borne in abundance at Kew. 



Native of Japan; first introduced in the eighteenth century. Pro 

 Sargent, who saw this tree 80 ft. high in Japan, says that " with their bright 

 red bark and compact heads of dark green, almost black, lustrous foliage, 



