ATHROTAXIS CUPRESSOIDES. 



261 



Athrotaxis cupressoides. 



A conical tree 25 45 feet high with a trunk sometimes 1'5 2 feet 

 in diameter near the ground. Bark reddish brown, peeling off in 

 ribbon-like shreds exposing a cinnamon-brown inner 

 cortex. Primary branches scattered, spreading or 

 ascending, much ramified at the distal end. Branchlets 

 in pseudo-whorls of five seven, densely clothed with 

 foliage. Leaves dimorphic, in decussate pairs, per- 

 sistent several years and peeling off with the bark ; 

 on vigorous shoots oblong-acute, keeled, 0'5 inch 

 long, appressed and imbricated ; on the youngest 

 shoots much smaller, scale-like, ovate-triangular, sub- 

 acute, closely imbricated or concrescent with the 

 stem, dark grass-green tinged with brown during the 

 winter. Staminate flowers as described in page 259. 

 Strobiles composed of five six decussate pairs of 

 Fig. 76. scales, each with an acute pyramidal umbo and bearing 



AtUrotaxis cupressoides. tnree _ nve see( j s . 



Athrotaxis cupressoides, Don in Trans. Linn. Soc. XVIII. 173, t. 13, tig. 2 

 (1839). Hooker til in Lond. Journ. Bot. IV. 148 (1845) ; and Fl. Tasmari. I. 345 

 Endlicher, Synops. Conif. 196. Carriere, Traite Conif. ed. II. 205. Parlatore, 

 D. C. Prodr. XVI. 433. Gordon, Pinet. ed. II. 47. Masters in Gard. Chron. 

 XXIV. (1885), p. 273, with figs. ; and Journ. R. Hort. Soc. XIV. 199. 



Recorded localities. Lake St. Clair, Pine River near Marlborough, and 

 the Western Mountains. 



Athrotaxis laxifolia. 



A small tree 25 30 feet high with a slender 

 trunk covered with reddish brown bark that peels 

 off in longitudinal shreds. Primary branches scattered, 

 close-set and spreading, ramification tetrastichous with 

 occasional adventitious growths between the ranks. 

 Leaves persistent several years, sub-spirally arranged 

 or in decussate pairs, ovate-lanceolate, mucronate, 

 more or less appressed to the stem, slightly incurved 

 and attenuated from the base upwards, flat with two 

 faint glaucous stomatiferous lines on the ventral 

 side, convex-carinate and bright green on the dorsal 

 side. Strobiles terminal, globose, about 0*75 inch in 

 diameter, closely resembling those of A. selaginoides 

 in structure but smaller in all their parts. 



Athrotaxis laxifolia, Hooker, W. Icon. PI. 573 (1843). Hooker til in Lond. 

 Journ. Bot. IV. 149 (1845) ; and Fl. Tasraan. I. 354. Endlicher, Synops. Conif. 196. 

 Carriere, Traite Conif. ed. II. 206. Parlatore, D. C. Prodr. XVI. 434. Gordon, 

 Pinet. ed. II. 48. Masters in Gard. Chron. IX. ser. 3 (1891), p. 144, with fig. ; 

 Journ. Linn. Soc. XXII. 201, with fig. ; and Journ. R. Hort. Soc. XIV. 199. 



A. Doniana, Hort. 



Recorded localities. At the falls of the River Meander, and near the 

 summit of the Western Mountains at about 4,000 feet elevation. This 

 form is so nearly intermediate between A. cupressoides and A. selaginoides 

 as to suggest the possibility of its being a hybrid between them. 



Fig. 77. 

 Athrotaxis laxifolia. 



