174 ^^^ Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



Harper considers this variety to be a distinct species, and in support of this 

 opinion alleges that certain differences which he has observed in the two forms are 

 constant. The bark in var. imbricaria, both in cultivated and wild specimens, is 

 considerably thicker and more coarsely ridged than in the typical form. The 

 enlargement of the base of the trunk is abrupt in the former, conical in the latter. 

 Knees are formed more abundantly in trees of the type, and are usually slender and 

 acute, sometimes reaching a height of 6 feet. In var. imbricaria the knees are short 

 and rounded, often almost hemispherical in shape. The type is a lover of limestone, 

 the variety just the opposite. The distribution of the two forms is different, 

 dependent upon the geological nature of the soil, var. imbricaria always growing on 

 the Lafayette formation, which is a deposit of sandy clay, while the type always 

 occurs on other formations. Harper admits the occurrence of intermediate forms, 

 but states that they are rare. He has records of 300 to 400 stations in Georgia for 

 var. imbricaria, at each of which there may be from ten to several thousand trees, 

 while he has only seen intermediate forms about twenty times, and never more than 

 100 trees at one station. In the intermediate forms branchlets with distichous 

 leaves occur on young shoots. Harper has seen in Georgia specimens of var. 

 imbricaria as large as the ordinary form ; but it is generally admitted to be a smaller 

 tree. The two forms often grow close together, but in different situations. On the 

 Savilla river in Camden County, Georgia, he noticed the type growing along the 

 water's edge below the Lafayette formation, while a hundred yards or so away var. 

 itnbricaria was flourishing in moist pine-barrens. 



Var. imbricana is possibly a juvenile form, analogous to Cryptomeria elegans. 

 The generally smaller size of the trees and the various differences noted by Harper 

 are probably the result of poor soil, and do not, in my opinion, entitle this form to 

 rank as a distinct species. 



This variety was early introduced into England, as it was in cultivation, 

 according to Alton,' at Kew in 1789. The original tree at Kew, now dead, was 

 living in 1886, when it was described by Sir Joseph Hooker^ as 40 feet in height 

 and of remarkable habit, on account of its slender twisted stem with decurved 

 branches and pectinately-disposed branchlets. A small tree, 20 feet in height, is 

 now growing in Kew Gardens. 



A tree of the Mexican kind was reported ^ to be growing at Penrhyn Castle, 

 North Wales; but Elwes saw it in 1906, and confirms the opinion I had formed 

 from specimens sent by Mr. Richards, that it is var. imbricaria. It is 44 feet high 

 and 4 in girth, and comes into leaf later than the ordinary form growing near it. 



At Pencarrow,* Cornwall, there is a fine specimen, which was planted about 1841 

 by Sir W. Molesworth. It had attained in 1899 a height of over 30 feet, with a 

 girth of stem of 2 feet 9^^ inches at 5 feet from the ground. 



' Hortus Kewensis, iii. 372. Described as " Cupressus disticha, var. nutans ; foliis remotioribus subsparsis ; long-leaved 

 deciduous cypress." This varietal name was liept up by Lou<lon, he. cit. 24S1, who considered it to be identical with the 

 Tttxodium sinense of cultivators of his time. 



2 Bot. Mag. t. 5603 (1886), where it is described as Glyplostrobus pendulus, Endlicher. 



3 A. D. Webster, Hardy Coniferous Trees, 115 (1896). This tree is described in Garden, 1887, xxxi. 480. 

 * Figured in Gard, Chron. 1899, xxvi. 489, fig. 161, 



