198 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



A shrub, with a straight trunk, bare of branches below. The branchlets, numerous, 

 long, flexile, cord - like, unbranched or only slightly branched, are produced in 

 irregular fascicles of 5 to 20 or more at irregular intervals along the branches. They 

 are slender and pendent, and bear leaves distantly placed in 4 rows in decussate pairs. 

 The leaves, broadly decurrent at the base and long acuminate at the apex, spread out 

 from the branchlets at an acute angle. Cones are occasionally borne, which are like 

 those of the type.^ There is a specimen at Kew of a plant raised from seed of this 

 variety, which is ordinary Thuya orientalis. It was sent from the Botanic Garden at 

 Turin by Mr. Hanbury in i860. 



There are several forms of this variety, differing in habit and length of leaves ; 

 in one the branchlets are tetragonal. 



This shrub was first observed by Thunberg in Japan, and specimens were 

 collected near Yokohama by Maximowicz. It was also met with by Fortune in 

 China, and has been raised in Europe. 



2. Var. de cuss at a. 



Retinospora Juniperoides, Carrifere, Conif. ed. 2, p. 140. 



A low shrub, with erect stems and branches, bearing foliage like that of the 

 seedling. The leaves are in 4 rows in decussate pairs, spreading, and resembling 

 those of a juniper, except that the points are not prickly. They are greyish green 

 in summer, changing to brown in winter. 



3. Var. Meldensis. 



Biota Meldensis, Lawson, in Gordon, Pinetum, 37. 



A small tree with ascending flexible branches. It is a transition form, bearing 

 acute acicular spreading leaves like that of the seedling, and occasionally leaves of 

 the adult character. The leaves are bluish green, changing to brown in the winter. 

 This plant was raised from seeds of Thuya orientalis gathered in the cemetery of 

 Trilbardoux near Meaux in France ; and for a long time was supposed to be a cross 

 between Thuya orientalis znd Juniperus virginiana. 



4. Var. intermedia. 



Biota orientalis intermedia, Carrifere, Man. des PL iv. 322. 



This is also a transition form. It is a shrub with elongated pendent branchlets, 

 the ramifications of which arise from all sides of the axis, not remaining in one plane. 

 There are two kinds of leaves, those towards the ends of the branchlets resembling 

 the adult foliage of Thuya orientalis, while those on older parts are spreading, 

 arranged in decussate pairs, oval-lanceolate, decurrent at the base, and acute at the 

 apex. In Var. funiculata, if it is in reality distinguishable, there appears to be a 

 larger proportion of adult foliage. 



Many other varieties have been described : some of peculiar habit, as gracilis 

 and pyramidalis, which are fastigiate ; others with coloured or variegated foliage, as 

 aurea, argenteo - variegata, aureo - variegata. Var. ericoides of this species closely 



' At Barton, a shrub of this variety produced cones, which had very long hooked processes on the scales (Bunbury, 

 Arboretum Notes, 153). 



