ARBOR VIT^:. THUJA. 



Natural order, Conifera. A genus of tJfe 

 Monceda Monadelphia class. 



THE generic name of this tree is a corrup- 

 tion from u# of Theophrastus, or thya of 

 Pliny, which were derived from the verb 

 thyo, I perfume ; as the thya of the ancients 

 gave out an aromatic smoke when it was 

 burnt. It is called arbor vitce, or tree of life, 

 because it keeps in full leaf winter and 

 summer; and not in allusion to the tree of 

 life mentioned in the book of Genesis. 



The royal garden of Fontainbleau had the 

 honour of giving nourishment to the first 

 arbor vitse that was planted in Europe, and 

 which was sent from Canada as a present tp 

 Francis the First. It does not appear to 

 have been cultivated in England during that 

 monarch's contemporary, as it is unnoticed 

 by Turner, who dedicated his " Herbal" to 

 Queen Elizabeth, in the first year of her reign; 

 but Gerard tells us, in his " History of 



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