General Notices. 375 



ber as twisted in the grain, and as of the most durahlc nature. Polos made 

 of its timber, placed in front of the residences of the Mandarins, have been 

 found perfectly sound, after having stood there " for ages." Like the com- 

 mon Scots Fir, it thrives best in a loamy soil, and is propagated alike by 

 seeds and cuttings. The trees grow in China from 4 to 5 feet in diameter. 

 A beautiful specimen is noticed as having flowered in August, 1848, and 

 offered to seed freely at Milford nursery, near Godalniing, in Sussex. Pro- 

 fessor Lindley has confirmed the fact of the perfect hardihood of this tree in 

 England. It is a rapid growing species, and should, for so many valuable 

 properties, be extensively grown. The plants here and elsewhere in Scot- 

 land, are young, but pi'omising. 



PODOCARPUS AND TORREYA. 



Podocarpus nudfera syn. Ton-eya nucifera. — Though Endlicher lends the 

 weight of his high name in classing this as one of the two species noticed 

 by him as comprising the section " Torreya," it is now generally recognized 

 as belonging to the tribe " Podocarpus." It is a valuable tree in as far as 

 the question of hardiliood is involved, having withstood this bygone very 

 trying winter, and proved itself quite hardy in this high district. It is a na- 

 tive of the mountains of both islands of Nippon and Sikok, and cultivated 

 throughout the whole territory of Japan ; as the name implies it is a nut- 

 heuring species. It is known in China by the name of " Fi," or more com- 

 monly " Kaja." It is the Cai-yotaxus nucifera, of one authority, and the 

 Taxus nudfera, of some others. 



Podocarpus Koraiana, Siebold. — This is an inhabitant of the island of 

 Corsea, in the Japanese seas, and is cultivated in the gardens of Japan; of 

 doubtful hardihood, but not yet sufficiently tested. 



Podocarjms machrophylla syn. P. mahoya. — This species is likewise ob- 

 tained from Japan, an inhabitant of that country, up to the 40° of N. lat., 

 where it attains a height of 40 to 50 feet. A dwarf variety of this tree is 

 cultivated in Chinese gardens. Though the high latitude assigned to it 

 might warrant the conclusion of its being hardy in this country, yet the by- 

 gone season has destroyed it at the Cairnies. It is certainly deserving of 

 another trial, for it is spoken of as a tree of fiiir proportions, having a lofty 

 spreading top, yielding timber which resists the attack of insects, and much 

 prized for cabinet Avork. 



Podocarpim Harringioni is the last I shall notice of this section ; a new 

 species, whose merits are not sufficiently proved. 



ARAUCARU.. 



Araucaria inhrkata. — This remarkable tree, which forms vast woods in 

 the south mountains of Chili, between the 35° and 50° of S. lat., is used by 

 the natives of that region, not only as a timber tree of great durability, but 

 as affording a useful esculent in its seeds. With us these ultimate objects 

 seem to be overlooked ; but who does not prize it, and give it the foremost 

 place as at once the most striking and ornamental of lawn trees. Armed 

 with its dense imbricated spiny foliage, it recalls to mind, and is sufficient 

 to have suggested, the formidable steel-clothed tree of the Isle of Serendib, 



