Cryptomeria 131 



pinetum at Cowdray this form also grows very well, and it is perfectly hardy at 

 Colesborne and in Yorkshire. At Poltalloch in Argyllshire it also attains large 

 dimensions. 



Identification 



Cryptomeria resembles Sequoia and Araucaria Cunninghami in having leaves 

 which are spirally arranged and markedly decurrent on the shoots. The awl-shaped 

 leaves oi Araucaria Cunninghami strongly resemble those of the ordinary forms of 

 Cryptomeria ; but in the former they always end in bristle-like points, whereas in the 

 latter they taper to a blunt point. The subulate leaves of Sequoia gigantea are 

 closely appressed to the shoots in three ranks, with only their upper half free ; 

 whereas in Cryptomeria they are in five ranks, and are free from the shoots for the 

 greater part of their length. 



Introduction 



The tree is said by Siebold ' to have been introduced into St. Petersburg by 

 the overland route through Siberia, several years before Fortune sent it to England. 

 The credit of the introduction into England is, however, due to Captain Sir Everard 

 Home,' who sent seeds to Kew from Chusan in 1842. Several seedlings were raised 

 at Kew, which were kept in a greenhouse till 1847, and were then planted out; but 

 they never did well. One planted near the rockery was living in 1880, when it 

 measured 26 feet high by 2 feet 3 inches in girth ; and another stood for some years 

 near the main entrance. Both these trees have been cut down, and there do not 

 appear to be any survivors of the first importation now at Kew or elsewhere. 

 Fortune introduced the tree in quantity in 1844, when he sent seeds, apparently 

 gathered in Chekiang, from Shanghai to the Horticultural Society. The first tree 

 planted in France was at Chaverney in 1844, ^^^ the second at Angers in 1847. 

 All the old trees in this country and on the Continent are from Fortune's seeds, and 

 belong consequently to the Chinese form. 



The variety Lobbii was introduced by Thomas Lobb in 1853 from the Botanic 

 Garden of Buitzenborg in Java, where it had been sent from Japan in 1825 by 

 Siebold,' It differs only slightly from the ordinary Japanese form. Siebold* states 

 that he introduced the typical Japanese form into Leyden in 1861. John Gould 

 Veitch introduced several kinds of Cryptomeria, as the result of his visit to Japan 

 in i860; but I have not been able to identify these, and according to H. J. Veitch,' 

 the typical Japanese form was first introduced by Maries in 1879. Probably there 

 are no trees of this kind in England older than this date. The introduction of 

 variety elegans has been already given above. (A. H.) 



Distribution in China 

 Cryptomeria was discovered in China in 1701 by J. Cunningham, who found it in 



Siebold, loc. cit. 48. 



' John Smith, Records of Kew Gardens (1880), p. 289; Sir W. J. Hoolcer, Guide to Kew Gardens, 1847, p. a8, 

 1850, p. 14. 



Siebold, loc. cit. 48. * Ibid. 51. ^ Jour. Hart. Soc. xiv. (1892), 30. 



