CONIFERS OF DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS. 149 



vating in beds or on rock-work. The smallest would include 

 Juniperus communis compressa^ a neat and miniature plant 

 that rarely exceeds four inches in height ; /. communis nana^ 

 which on the Scotch and Welsh hills spreads to a considerable 

 distance, though hardly 6 inches high; and/. Sabina tamarisci- 

 folia, with bright bluish green foliage and of very dwarf and 

 procumbent habit. 



Pinus Strobiis jmna, P. cembra pumila^ P. Laricio pygmcea^ 

 and P. silvestris pygmcea are all very compact dwarf forms 

 of their several species, none of which rise to a greater height 

 than about four feet. 



Amongst the spruces there are several very interesting and 

 neat pigmy forms, the best of which would include Picea 

 excelsa pyg^ncea^ P. excelsa Clanbrasiliana, P. excelsa pumila^ 

 P. excelsa Gregoryana^ and P. nigra Doiimettii. These are 

 generally of dwarf spreading growth, from two feet to five 

 feet in height, and decidedly interesting and useful for the 

 purposes already referred to. 



Cryptomeria japonica nana and the dwarf form of the 

 variety elegans are also neat and useful conifers of small 

 growth ; and the same applies to Thuya dolabrata Icstevirens 

 and T. dolabrata nana, T. orientalis pygmcea^ and T. orientalis 

 nana. 



Several varieties of Ciipressus are of small and pleasing 

 growth, such as C. Lawsoniana nana and C. Lawsoniana 

 nana glauca, C. obtusa nana and C. obtusa aurea nafta. 

 Taxus baccata nana is a dwarf spreading variety of the 

 common yew, that rarely rises more than three feet from the 

 ground ; and T. baccata ericoides is likewise of unusually low 

 growth, and furnished with small heath-like foliage. 



These include the smallest growing varieties, but there are 

 others of slightly taller habit, which would, however, hardly 

 come within the scope of such as are suitable for the rock 

 garden or flower bed. 



