JANUARY. 25 



THE WASHINGTONIA GIGANTEA. 



BY J. W. RUSSELL, SOUTH CALAVERAS, CALIFORNIA. 



It will be recollected that in our last volume, (XX, p. 185,) 

 we gave a brief account of this giant evergreen, which has at- 

 tracted so much attention in California, where the exhibition 

 even of a portion of the trunk at San Francisco has been vis- 

 ited by thousands of persons. This noble tree was accident- 

 ally met with by Mr. W. Lobb, an English botanist, collect- 

 ing in California for Messrs. Veitch & Co. of London, and be- 

 lieving it to be a new conifer, he called it the Wellingtons, 

 claiming that right we presume as the first discoverer of the 

 tree. Against this assumption of authority, in tacking on the 

 names of European heroes to the grandest of our American 

 trees, we seriously protested, even if Mr. Lobb did actually 

 first discover it ; and we proposed, as the proper name, 

 should it prove to be a distinct genus, the only appropriate and 

 just title to such a specimen of American vegetation, that of 

 the Father of his country, Washington. 



In this we were supported by W. R, Prince, Esq., of Long 

 Island, who visited California before Mr. Lobb, and saw the 

 original trees, by several California botanists, and by other cor- 

 respondents. We now have the pleasure of offering the views 

 of our old and respected correspondent J. W. Russell, now a 

 resident of South Calaveras, who has specimens of the tree, 

 and who not only decides it to be a new genus, but proves 

 that Mr. Lobb did not first discover it. We shall let Mr. Rus- 

 sell speak for himself, and after reading his communication, 

 we hope no American, at least, will adopt any other than our 

 name of Washingtonia. — Ed. 



Mr. Robert Carmichael, has just returned from a trip to the 

 great trees, and from him I have received fine specimens. 

 The foliage is similar to the Cupressus sempervirens, but 

 somewhat stronger or coarser — the seed cone, like the pine, 

 say about three inches long and two inches diameter. This 

 mammoth growth of trees evidently belongs to the Pine tribe, 

 but is, without a shadow of a doubt, a new genus. The grove 



VOL. XXI. NO. I. 4 



