24-04- 



AKBOUETUM AND FRUTICKTUM. 



PART III. 



first produced in tufts ; the buds from which they spring having the appear- 

 ance of abortive shoots, which, instead of becoming branches, only produce a 

 tuft of leaves pressed closely 

 together in a kind of whorl. 

 These buds continue, for 

 several years in succession, 

 to produce every spring a 

 new tuft of leaves, placed 

 above those of the preceding 

 year; and thus each bud 

 may be said to make a slight 

 growth annually, but so 

 slowly, that it can scarcely 

 be perceived to have ad- 

 vanced a line in length; 

 hence, many of these buds 

 may be found on old trees, 

 which have eight or ten rings, 

 each ring being the growth The Syon Cedar ' 



of one year; and sometimes they ramify a little. At length, sooner or later 

 they produce the male and female flowers. The male catkins are simple, 

 solitary, of a reddish hue, about 2 in. long, terminal, and turning upwards. 

 They are composed of a great number of sessile, imbricated stamens, on a 

 common axis. Each stamen is furnished with an anther with 2 cells, which 

 open lengthwise by their lower part ; and each terminates in a sort of crest 

 pointing upwards. The pollen is yellowish, and is produced in great abun- 

 dance. The female catkins are short, erect, roundish, and rather oval : they 

 change, after fecundation, into ovate-oblong cones, which, when they ap- 

 proach maturity, become from 2| in. to 5 in. long. The cones are of a greyish 

 brown, with a plum-coloured or pinkish bloom when young, which they lose 

 as they approach maturity : they are composed of a series of coriaceous im- 

 bricated scales, laid flat, and firmly pressed against each other in an oblique 

 spiral direction. The scales are very broad, obtuse, and truncated at the 

 summit; very thin, and slightly denticulated at the edge; and reddish and 

 shining on the flat part. Each scale contains 2 seeds, each surmounted by a 

 very thin membranaceous wing, of which the upper part is very broad, and 

 the lower narrow, enveloping the greater part 

 of the seed. The cones are very firmly at- 

 tached to the branches : they neither open 

 nor fall off as in the other ^bietinae ; but, when 

 ripe, the scales become loose, and drop gradu- 

 ally, leaving the'axis of the cone still fixed on 

 the branch. The seeds are of an irregular, 

 but somewhat triangular, form, nearly l^in. 

 long, of a lightish brown colour. Every part 

 of the cone abounds with resin, which some- 

 times exudes from between the scales. The 

 female catkins are produced in October, but 

 the cones do not appear till the end of the 



second year ; and, if not gathered, they will ^ Cedar 



remain attached to the tree for several years. 



The tree does not begin to produce cones till it is 25 or 30 years old ; and, 

 even then, the seeds in such cones are generally imperfect, and it is not till 

 after several years of bearing, that seeds from the cones of young trees can 

 be depended on. Some cedars produce only male catkins, and these in im- 

 mense abundance; others only female catkins; and some both. There are 

 trees at Whitton, Pepper Harrow, and other places, which, though upwards 

 of 100 years old, and of vigorous growth, have scarcely ever produced either 

 male or female catkins. The duration of the cedar is supposed to extend to 

 several centuries. 



