LXXVII. CONI FERvE : CUPRE SSIN^. 



1067 



Tribe II. Cupre'ssin^. 



^ 



5- 



The CupressinEe differ from the Jhietinae in being, for the greater part, 

 shrubs or low trees, instead of lofty trees. They are all evergreen, with the 

 exception of one species of Taxodium (T. distichum, the deciduous cypress) ; 

 and none of them have the branches disposed in whorls, as is the case with 

 all the pines and firs without exception. The greater part of the species are 

 natives of warm climates, and comparatively few of them are perfectly hardy 

 in British gardens. One only, the common juniper, is a native of Britain ; 

 but between 30 and 40 foreign species and varieties endure the open air in 

 England; and 8 or 10 of these (exclusive of Taxodium), which have been 

 not less than 30 or 40 years in the country, antl which have had time to 

 display their shapes, form very handsome or i-emarkable evergreen low trees 

 or tall shrubs ; such as the red cedar, the white cedar, the eastern and western 

 arbor vitae, the Phoenician and tall juniper, the cedar of Goa, the common and 

 spreading cypress, &c. The greater number of the species, or alleged species, 

 have, however, been but a short time in Britain ; and are only to be seen as 

 very young plants in the nurseries, or in very choice collections. These lately 

 introduced kinds are so imperfectly known among cultivators, that little de- 

 pendence is to be placed on the names which are applied to them ; and there- 

 fore all that we can recommend is, that they should be as extensively introduced 

 into collections as possible, in order that they may grow up to some size, and 

 be examined in various situations by different botanists. It may be observed 

 of all the species of Cupressinae, that it is not easy to describe by words, and 

 scarcely practicable to illustrate by figures without the fruit, many of the 

 different species of this family ; nevertheless, to a practised eye, it is easy to 

 distinguish the three leading genera, viz. Thuja, Cupressus, and ./uniperus, by 

 a portion of the branch, without either flowers or fruit- The flattened, two- 

 edged, scaly, imbricated shoots of all the thujas, including Cailitris (which 

 may, if the reader chooses,.be considered a sub-genus), are two-edged, whether 

 the specimen be young or old ; those of Cupressus are scaly and imbricated, 

 but angular or rountlish, and never two-edged ; and those of ./uniperus, in 

 the young state of the plants, have distinct acerose leaves, generally glaucous 

 above, and often in threes joined at the base. All the kinds may be propa- 

 gated by layers and cuttings ; and the more common s[)ecies ripen seeds in 

 Britain in abundance. The seeds, which generally lie a year in the ground, 

 may be sown in spring ; and the young plants may be treated in all respects 

 like those of the pine and fir tribe. When the seeds are sown in autimin, im- 

 mediately after being gathered, they sometimes come up the following year. 

 Cuttings should be made in autumn, of the wood of the same year, with a 

 small portion of the preceding year's wood attached ; and they should be 

 planted in sand, or in a very sandy loam, in a shady border, and covered with 

 hand-glasses. Cuttings put in in September will form callosities at their lower 

 extremities the same autumn, and should be protected by mats during severe 

 frosts in winter : the following autumn they will be ready to transplant. 

 Layers may be made either in autumn or spring. The genera have been thus 

 arranged : 



Thv^ja. Catkins terminal, solitary. Pollen in 4 cases. Ovules 2. Leaves 



scale-like, imbricate. - 

 Ca'llitris. Catkins terminal, solitary. Pollen in 2 to 5 cases. Ovules 3 or 



more. Leaves scale-like, opposite or whorled. 

 Cupre'ssus. Catkins solitary. Pollen in 4 cases. Ovules 8 or more. Leaves 



imbricate. 

 T.ixo'Diuai. Catkins disposed in compound sjjikes, female ones 2 or 3 to- 



