608 TSUGA ULEX 



T. SlEBOLDll, Carriere. SlEBOLD'S HEMLOCK. 



(Abies Tsuga, Siebold.) 



A tree up to 100 ft. high in Japan, with a trunk 9 ft. or more in girth ; but 

 only a small bushy tree with us, although a very elegant one; young shoots 

 perfectly smooth. Leaves linear, of uniform width, ^ to I in. long, T 1 6 to j^ 

 in. wide, rounded and distinctly notched at the apex, not toothed, abruptly 

 narrowed at the base to a short stalk; rich glossy green above, with two 

 clearly defined white lines of stomata beneath. Cones f to i in. long, egg- 

 shaped; scales rounded. 



Confined in a wild state to Japan, whence it was introduced about 1853. 

 Although slow-growing and not in the least likely to make a large tree in 

 this country, the grace and beauty of Siebold's hemlock fir makes it well 

 worth cultivation. It is admirable for some sheltered nook on a lawn, where 

 the soil is good and well-drained. Distinguished among Tsugas by the 

 entire margins of the leaf, and glabrous shoots. 



The shrub known in gardens as T. Sieboldii nana appears to be 

 T. diversiiolia. I know of no dwarf form of the true Sieboldii. 



ULEX. LEGUMINOS^E. 



A genus of very spiny shrubs allied to the brooms, but differing in 

 having the calyx as well as the petals yellow. Only three species, all 

 natives of England, are worth cultivating; several others, mostly found 

 in Spain and Portugal, are too tender to be of any value. The leaves 

 are small and spine-tipped, often reduced to mere prickles; and all 

 the species have the quality of evergreens, from the dark green of their 

 spines and branches. 



In gardens they are often useful for covering dry sunny banks or 

 breadths of poor gravelly soil, where most shrubs would not thrive. In 

 such places the double-flowered variety of U. europaeus is particularly 

 effective in spring. The two other species have a value in flowering in 

 late summer and autumn. None of them will thrive in shade, and they 

 are never satisfactory in rich soil ; in either case flowers will be sparsely 

 borne, and the plants apt to get lank and ungainly. Where the soil is 

 of good quality it is advisable not to dig it over when planting, with the 

 view of keeping it as hard as possible. Propagation by cuttings is referred 

 to under the notice of U. europaeus fl. pi. Seeds should be sown singly 

 in small pots and the plants put in their permanent places at their 

 first planting, for they transplant badly. The common gorse should 

 be sown in situ. The three hardy species are easily differentiated as 

 follows : 



1. SPRING-FLOWERING. 

 U. europceus. 



2. AUTUMN-FLOWERING. 



U. Gallii. Spines stiff and long ; wing-petals long. 

 U. nanus. Spines slender ; wing-petals short. 



