336 THE BOOK. OF EVERGREENS. 



Syn. B. pendula, Endlicher ; T. penclula, Lambert / T. 

 filliformis, Loddiges, &c., &c. The Weeping Arbor Vitae 

 is the most graceful and decidedly pendulous of all Coni- 

 fers that will survive our northern winters. Its origin is 

 obscure. Some authors hold that it is a distinct and un- 

 doubted species, and others, (ourselves included,) that it is 

 only a marked variety, raised from the seed of -B. orien- 

 talis. Figured on the preceding page. 



A botanical friend, some years ago, for the purpose of 

 testing its true character, raised a quantity of young plants 

 from seed gathered from this tree, and the result was a 

 stock of unmistakable young Chinese Arbor Vitses. Not 

 in a single instance was there an exception. A subsequent 

 examination of the fruit has confirmed our opinion that 

 this plant is nothing more than a variety, but, we confess, 

 a very distinct and puzzling one. 



In a description of the specimen plant at the Turin Bo- 

 tanic Garden, Dr. Hooker says that the intelligent head- 

 gardener informed him of the same circumstance occurring 

 there that we have alluded to above. Wm. Loddiges, of 



O ' 



the Hackney Nursery, England, affirms that he picked out 

 this same "Weeping Arbor Vita3 from a bed of seedlings, 

 raised from seed of B. orientalis. He was under the im- 

 pression that it might be a hybrid between that species 

 and Juniperus Virginiana or J. Chinensis. Dr. Hooker 

 mentions that Lambert " suspects it to be a native of the 

 parts of Tartary near China." 



The branches of this beautiful Arbor Vitse curve grace- 

 fully to the ground, and, unlike the species, have acute 

 leaves. It has proven reasonably hardy with us, and in 

 most places throughout the Eastern and Middle States ; 

 those cases to the contrary are very probably in uncon- 

 genial soil. It is exceedingly difficult to root from cut- 

 tings, but does well grafted or inarched on the species. 



Var, hybrid a, Hort. A variety sent out by the French 



