THUIA GIGANTEA. 241 



Beside these giants the other Arbor Vifces of the world are but 

 pygmies." * It constantly diminishes in size in proceeding eastwards 

 to the slopes of the Eocky Mountains, dwindling to a low shrub at 

 its highest vertical limit. 



The botanical history of Thuia gigantea is somewhat complicated. 

 The earliest mention of it occurs in James Bonn's "Hortus 

 Cambridgiensis," ed. IV. published in 1807, under the name of Thuja 

 plicata without description, but with the information that the species 

 was discovered by Nees at Nootka Sound. Nees was a Frenchman, 

 naturalised in Spain, who accompanied Malaspina in his voyage round the 

 world (1789 1794), and his original herbarium specimen of this Thuia 

 is still preserved in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington. 

 Nees was closely followed by Archibald Menzies who accompanied 

 Vancouver's expedition as botanist (1790 1796), and he also brought 

 home specimens gathered at Nootka Sound in 1795. The species was 

 first described from Menzies' materials by David Don in the second 

 volume of Lambert's "Genus Pinus " published in 1828 under James 

 Donn's name of T. plicata.^ About this time, or a little earlier, 

 Thomas Nuttall, who was preparing a continuation of Michaux' great 

 work on North American trees, received specimens from the Flat 

 Head river and gave the tree the name of T. gigantea, but his 

 description was not published till 1834. It was next met with by 

 David Douglas while collecting for the Horticultural Society of London 

 in the region of the river Columbia (1825 1827), who at first took it 

 for the eastern species, T. occidentals, but afterwards named it T. Menziesii 

 in compliment to his distinguished countryman ; Douglas' name, how- 

 ever, remained a MS. name only. It was shortly afterwards gathered 

 by Mertens near its northern limit on the island of Sitka, from whose 

 herbarium specimens it was described as a new species by Bongard 

 in his " Observations sur la Vegetation de Sitka " under the name of 

 T. excelsa, but this name was not taken up by any subsequent author. 

 Nearly a quarter of a century had still to elapse before this valuable 

 tree was introduced to British gardens ;| the first consignment of seed 

 was received at the Veitchian nursery at Exeter in 1853, whence it 

 was subsequently distributed under the name of Thuia Lobbii, Nuttall's 

 name of T. gigantea being at that time misapplied to Libocedrus 

 decurrens, and Don's T. plicata being in use for a variety of 

 T. occidentalis. 



In British gardens and pineta Thuia gigantea is one of the 

 handsomest of Conifers ; it forms an elongated cone of foliage, in some 

 places at the present time 70 to 80 feet high, 50 to 60 feet high 

 being by no means uncommon. Its tall straight trunk is feathered 



* Professor Sargent in Garden and Forest, IV. 109, the author adding "There 

 are not many of them now." The same author also states that Thuia 'gigantea is 

 rapidly disappearing with the spread of the forest fires which, burning through the 

 thin bark, soon kills these trees. Silva of North America, loc. cit. 



t Gardeners' Chronicle, XXI. ser. 3 (1897), pp. 101 and 214. 

 It is highly probable that the cultivated plant al 



alluded to by David Don and in- 

 cluded in James Donn's list of plants in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, was a variety 

 of Thuia occidentalis, a point that may never be cleared up. 



The largest specimens known to the author in England are at Panjerrick, Falmouth ; 

 Eastnor Castle, Linton Park, Dropmore, and Monk Coniston. In Scotland at Poltalloch, 

 Argyllshire ; Murthly Castle and Dupplin Castle, Perthshire. In Ireland at Woodstock, 

 Kilkenny ; Hamwood, Co. Meath ; Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow ; Fota Island, Cork. 



