176 JUNIPERUS EXCELSA. 



half the forest at 9,000 feet elevation; on the summits of the limestone 

 formation at 10,000 12,000 feet and in the neighbourhood of Quetta 

 it is the only valuable timber tree.* On the inner drier ranges of the 

 Himalaya it ascends to 15,000 feet where it becomes a stunted bush. 



The economic value of Juniperus exeelsa is -very considerable in all the. 

 districts in which it is abundant. The heart-wood is of a deep red 

 colour, delightfully fragrant, durable and easy to work ; it is used for all 

 kinds of constructive purposes and indoor carpentry. The people of the 

 Hariab district in Afghanistan make pads of the strips of its fibrous bark 

 on which they carry their water-jugs. 



The date of the introduction of Juniperus exeelsa into British gardens 

 is not accurately known. As London has mixed up this species witli 

 another Juniper from Siberia described by Pallas and a third found on 

 the Rocky Mountains by Lewis and Clark, his statement that it was 

 introduced in 1806 by Sir Joseph Banks is open to doubt, the more so 

 as it is not mentioned by Aitoii in the second edition of the "Hortus. 

 Kewensis " published in 1813. The oldest trees in British gardens are 

 of columnar or elongated conical habit, from 20 to 25 feet high and of 

 rather dark aspect ; but in its young state Juniperus exeelsa is very 

 ornamental and easily distinguished amidst its surroundings by its dark 

 green colour apparently covered with tine dust which is an optical effect 

 produced by the grey stomatiferous lines of the acicular leaves. 



With Juniperus exeelsa may be grouped three Junipers which have 

 received specific rank at the hands of the several botanists who have 

 dealt with them, but who seem to have relied upon characters of 

 insufficient value for specific distinction even if they are constant, and of 

 this further evidence is desirable. 



Juniperus fcetidissima. 



Wildenow, Sp. Plant. IY. 843. Endlicher, Synops. Conif. 25. Paiiatore, D. C. 

 Prodr. XVI. 485. Boissier, Fl. orient, V. 710. And others. 



This occurs, according to Parlatore, 011 the mountains of Greece and 

 spreads eastwards 'through Asia Minor to Armenia and the Caucasian 

 provinces and also to the Cilician Taurus and Syria often associated with 

 Juniperus exeelsa. It is said to differ from /. exeelsa in its thicker 

 branchlets ; in its larger, more sharply pointed leaves that are for the 

 most part glandless and free at the apex ; and in its larger fruits of a 

 different colour with fewer seeds,! characters I have failed to discern in 

 specimens to which I have had access. 



Juniperus macropoda. 



Boissier, Fl. orient. V. 709. Hooker fil, Fl. Brit. Ind. V. 647. 



This form inhabits the inner drier ranges of the Himalaya from 



Nepal westwards to Afghanistan and western Thibet, from 5,000 to 



15,000 feet, as described above under. Juniperus exeelsa, to which it 



is referred by Sir Dietrich Brandis but separated from it by the 



* Aitchison in Journal of the Lhmean Society, loc cit supra. 



t Arbor vel frutex a J. exeelsa ranmlis crassis, foliis niajoribus, apice patulis, niucronato- 

 pungentibus, plerumque eglandulosis et galbulis fusco-purpureis, ssepissinia 12 nuculas 

 niajusculas gerentibus. Parlatore, De Candolle's Prodromus, loc. cit. supra. 



