538 LXXVL CONIFERS. [Juniperus. 



4. J. excelsa, M. Bieb. Tab. LXVIIL DC. Prodr. xvi. ii. 484. 

 Syn. (partly) J. chinensis, Linn., as accepted by Parlatore in DC. Prodr. 

 487. Himalayan Pencil Cedar. Apurs, uppurz, Beluchistan ; Chalai, 

 chalei, Jhelam; Shiikpa, shur, shurgu, lewar, Chenab and Sutlej ; Shur- 

 buta, shurgu, shuJcpa, Tibet ; Dhup, padmak, surgi, N.W.P. ; Dhupi, 

 dhupri chandan, shukpa, Nepal. 



A small or middle-sized tree, stunted at high elevations, with slender, 

 terete, nearly distichous branchlets. Foliage light green, not unlike in 

 colour that of Pinus excelsa. Leaves of two kinds (dimorphous), on the 

 upper and outer branches scale-like, closely adpressed, imbricate, ovate, 

 acute or pungent, back convex with a resinous gland; on the lower 

 branches, subulate, pungent, J- in. long. Male catkins terminal. Berries 

 very resinous, J in. diam., subglobose, black when ripe, at the ends of 

 lateral leaf-bearing branchlets of variable length, J-| in. long, seeds 2-5. 



Afghanistan and North Beluchistan. Arid tract of the North- West Himalaya 

 and West Tibet, generally gregarious on rocky slopes. At the head of the Kun- 

 har river (the westernmost feeder of the Jhelam), in Kaghan, at the head of the 

 Sind river in Kashmir, on the upper Chenab, Bias and Sutlej (above the Tidong 

 valley and the Werang Pass), on the upper Indus and its tributaries, and at the 

 head-waters of several feeders of the Ganges. Said to be plentiful in inner 

 Nepal, but not found farther east. The range of elevation is from 5000 ft. 

 (Rondu on the Indus) to 14,000 ft. in Ladak. It grows at the Saharanpur 

 garden, and is hardy in England. Beyond India it is difficult to define the 

 limits of this tree, as there are several species closely allied to it which will be 

 noticed below. The Indian tree seems to be identical with that found in the 

 Crimea, on the Caucasus, and the Ural mountains. In the N.W. Himalaya it 

 flowers in summer, and the berries ripen in September of the second year. The 

 tree does not generally attain a height exceeding 50 ft., the trunk is short, but 

 of great girth, 10 ft. and 6-7 ft. at higher elevations (11,000 ft.) being not un- 

 common, and several over 20 ft. girth being known. The trunk is generally 

 crooked and gnarled, and divides into many large, diffusely spreading twisted 

 boughs, which rapidly diminish in girth, and grow to no great height. An ex- 

 treme specimen is in Lahoul, 33^ ft. girth, divided into contorted branches not 

 over 30 ft. high. The crown has often an irregular and grotesque shape. The 

 branchlets are slender, glaucescent, erect or spreading, shorter and less pendu- 

 lous than those of Cupressus torulosa, but very like it in hand specimens. Bark 

 of branchlets reddish-brown, shining, with a cinereous silvery pellicle peeling off. 

 The bark of the trunk is reddish-brown or grey, smooth between longitudinal 

 cracks, exfoliating in long fibrous strips. Inner substance compact, fibrous. The 

 rate of growth is slow, three sections recorded by (Stewart gave 24, 40, and 44 

 rings per inch of radius respectively. The sapwood is large, light-coloured, 

 the heartwood light or dark red, even- and close-grained, with a scent similar to 

 that of the pencil cedar, but less powerful ; it is much harder than the American 

 pencil cedar. Like the wood of most Junipers, the annual rings in the wood of 

 J. excelsa are distinctly marked by a dark narrow line. The medullary rays 

 are often darker than the rest of the wood. Weight, 25-37 lb. per cub. ft. In 

 Quetta and Kelat it is much used for rafters and building. In the bare and 

 arid tracts, where it is chiefly found, it is used for many purposes. Supports 

 of water-channels are made of it, and the heartwood is said to be almost im- 

 perishable in moist earth. In Lahoul it is used, alternating with stones, for the 

 walls of houses, as well as for beams. In Kunawar some of the temples are 

 built of it ; it is made into drinking-cups and walking-sticks. 



