62 Commercial Gardening 



larix Kwmpferi), which attains a height of 130 ft. in China, resembles 

 the European Larch in appearance, but the foliage, at first bright- 

 yellowish green, turns to golden yellow in autumn. 



Liboeedrus deeurrens. A beautiful Californian Conifer, 50-150 ft. 

 high in a native state. It is often erroneously called Thuya gigantea, but 

 may be recognized by its small, linear, bright glossy leaves, imbricating in 

 four rows on the plaited or flattened branchlets, and by its solitary olive- 

 brown cones, about 1 in. long, at the tips of the shoots. More tender kinds 

 are Doniana and tetragona. 



Picea (SPRUCE FIR). The plants mostly known under this name in 

 nurseries are referred to under the genus Abies in this work (see p. 59), 

 and, with strange perversity, the Piceas proper are known as Abies in 

 nurseries. The most important kinds are Alcockiana, a beautiful pyra- 

 midal Japanese tree, 90-120 ft. high; alba, 50-170 ft., North America, the 

 White Spruce, valuable for damp situations; ajanensis, 70-80 ft., Japan; 

 Engelmanni, 80-150 ft., Rocky Mountains, with a fine variety, glauca. 

 P. excelsa, the Common Norway Spruce or Burgundy Pitch Pine of North 

 Europe, 100120 ft. high, supplies the white deal of commerce. It is well 

 known in a small state as the popular Christmas Tree. There are numerous 

 varieties, amongst the best being Clanbrassiliana, a dense bush, 2-3 ft. 

 high; aurea, shoots tipped with yellow; pygmcea (nana), a pyramidal 

 shrub about 1 ft. high. P. Morinda (Smithiana), from North India, 80- 

 120 ft., has an elegant drooping habit. P. nigra, the Black North American 

 Spruce, 50-70 ft., a quick-growing tree with blue-green foliage, has a 

 dwarf variety, pumila, 3-4 ft., and a red-barked one, rubra. P. orientalis, 

 from the Caucasus, is a somewhat dense-growing Spruce, with a golden 

 form, aurea, and a dwarf one, pygmwa. The Tiger- tail Spruce (A. polita), 

 a handsome Japanese conifer with yellow-barked shoots, makes a splendid 

 lawn tree. The American Blue Spruce (P. pungens) grows up to 160 ft., 

 has rich orange-coloured bark, and its varieties, argentea, with silvery 

 hues, and glauca, blue green, are charming lawn plants, but even they 

 are inferior in beauty to Kosteri, a splendid one with conspicuous foliage. 

 It is usually grafted on stocks of the type. The Sitka Spruce (P. sitch- 

 ensis, Abies Menziesi) grows up to 200 ft. in California, and has been 

 largely planted in Britain. It is valuable for hilly districts and for forest 

 work in general. 



Pinus. The Pines constitute a large genus of evergreen trees divisible 

 into three natural groups, viz. (1) those usually having two leaves in a 

 sheath, such as the Corsican Pine (P. Laricio), and the Scots Fir (P, syl- 

 vestris)', (2) those with three leaves in a sheath, like P. Coulteri (macro- 

 carpa) and P. ponderosa', and (3) those having five leaves in a sheath, 

 like P. Cembra, P. excelsa, and P. Strobus, the Weymouth Pine. 



Amongst the kinds most largely raised in nurseries are the Austrian 

 Pine (nigricans or austriaca); P. Cembra, the Swiss Stone Pine, which 

 grows almost anywhere. There are several forms, including a new golden 

 one, aurea. P. excelsa, the Bhotan Pine, is a quick-growing Himalayan 



