EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS. 



549 



r^.^^'S^ 



purity of color which distin- Fig. 174- 



guishes a young hemlock tree, 

 it assumes with age a sombre 

 tone. This expression, how- 

 ever, is rarely acquired before 

 it is thirty to forty years old, 

 and may readily be counter- 

 acted by planting the Chinese 

 wistaria, Virginia creeper, or 

 trumpet creeper at its root. 

 These will speedily intermin- 

 gle the rich drapery of their 

 lighter-colored foliage, and fall 

 like pendants from the highest boughs of the tree. 



The following are varieties of our native hemlock : 



Large-leaved Hemlock. A. c. macrophylla. — This is distin- 

 guished in the nursery by larger leaves and denser growth than the 

 common hemlock, but whether it will exhibit peculiarities to render 

 it worthy a distinct name is a question to be determined by longer 

 cultivation. 



The Slender-dwarf Hemlock. A. c. microphylla, or A. c. 

 gracilis. — A small-leaved, slender-branched, very dwarf variety that 

 looks thin and uninteresting when young, but may possibly have 

 some value at maturity. 



Parsons' Dwarf Hem- Pj^ j -_ 



lock. Abies c. ParsoJii. — 

 This is a very pretty dwarf, 

 noticeable for the symmet- 

 rical out-curve of its slender 

 branches. 



Sargent's Hemlock. 

 Abies c. Sargenti. — This bids 

 fair to be one of the most 

 curious and interesting ad- 

 ditions to our stock of gar- 

 denesque evergreens — bear- 

 ing the same relation to the 



