THE ARBOR VITJE 



TO most Americans the Arbor Vitas is familiar chiefly as a hedge plant, it being 

 perhaps more generally grown for this purpose than any other tree. It is one 

 of the most easily recognized of the evergreens on account of its flattened, frond- 

 like branches, which led the Indians to call it the Feather-leaf. It is essentially a Northern 

 form, being found in great abundance in the more northern parts of the American Conti- 

 nent, extending south to New England, Michigan, and Illinois, and on the elevations of 

 the Alleghany Mountains to Virginia and Tennessee. It grows in greatest abundance in 

 cold swamps, where it often forms the chief forest element, reaching a height of sixty 

 feet and a diameter of two or three feet. The trunk is short and often split near its base 

 into two or three parts. The soft, coarse-grained wood is light brown in color and weighs 

 but twenty pounds per cubic foot. It is used in making shingles and rail way- ties. 



The leaves of the Arbor Vitas are very small and much flattened, being suggestive 

 of closely appressed, imbricated scales. They are arranged in opposite pairs, each succeed- 

 ing pair alternating around the stem with the last. On the back of each leaf there is gen- 

 erally a small gland, which probably serves to give to the twigs their characteristic aromatic 

 odor, which is especially evident when the leaves are bruised. 



The flowers of the Arbor Vitas appear in spring on the ends of the branches, the 

 pollen-bearing and the seed-bearing blossoms being generally on the same plant. They 

 are succeeded by small, cone-like fruits, each with six to twelve brown scales between 

 which the small winged seeds are developed. These cones are rather inconspicuous and 

 not very attractive in form. Some of them are shown near the middle of the accompanying 

 plate. 



The Arbor Vitas has been so extensively planted that a great many horticultural 

 forms have developed. These forms vary chiefly as to habit of growth and color of foliage. 

 The species is deservedly popular in landscape planting, and although it grows rather 

 slowly it is one of the most satisfactory evergreens for hedges and other ornamental 

 purposes. 



In the Pacific Coast region the Western Arbor Vitas which is often locally called 

 Red Cedar or Canoe Cedar is an abundant species. Its cone generally has six fertile scales 

 while the cone of the eastern form has but four. "From this tree," writes Professor 

 Sargent, "the Indians of the Northwest coast split the planks used in the construction of 

 their lodges, carved the totems which decorate their villages, and hollowed out their 

 great war canoes ; and from the fibres of the inner bark made ropes, blankets, and thatch 

 for their cabins." Technically the species is called Thuya plicata. 



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