I02 Muhlenberg;ia, Volnine 7 



Libocedrus tetragona^ Fitsroya patagonica^ Saxe-Gothoea con- 

 spicua^ 'dwd Podocarpiis iiubigeniis^ four most interesting conifers 

 for this country after Arauca7^ia imbricata, that South America 

 produces. Nor must mention be omitted of Berberis Darwinii 

 which was first introduced by him to British gardens during the 

 same expedition. Lobb returned to England in 1848. The 

 wonderful conifers discovered by Douglas in California and Ore- 

 gon were then still very scarce in England, and young plants of 

 most of the species could scarcely be bought with money; it was 

 therefore decided that he should proceed to California with a 

 view of obtaining seeds of all the most important kinds known, 

 and to discover others, if possible. He landed at San Francisco 

 in the summer of 1849, ^^^"^ ^^ once made arrangements for ex- 

 ploring southern California. One of the first fruits of the expe- 

 dition was the successful introduction of Abies bi^acteata. Dur- 

 ing the years 1850-1851, he sent home consignments of cones 

 and seeds of Pinus radiata^ P. miiricata^ P. Sabiniana, P. Coul- 

 teri^ and P. tuberailata; also of many shrubs and flowering 

 plants, some of which were quite new to British gardens. In 

 the autumn of 1S51 he extended his operations further north, 

 and collected cones and seeds of the Redwood {Sequoia semper- 

 virens), Pinus Lmnbertiana, P. monticola^ etc. In 1852 he 

 made an excursion to the Columbia river and Oregon where he 

 succeeded in obtaining seeds of Abietia Douglasii {Pseudotsitga 

 muc7'07iata\ and Abies nobilis, still rare at that time in England, 

 and the beautiful Thuia provisionally named after him. Return- 

 ing through north California, he collected seeds oi Abies gran- 

 dis, A. magnifica which he sent home under the name of A. 

 amabilis believing it to be the A. amabilis of Douglas, A. con- 

 color (var. Lozuiana) the first received in England of that fine 

 fir, Juniperiis californica^ Finns ponderosa^ etc. In 1853 he 

 explored the Siena Nevada, whither he was led by the reports 

 of the discovery of trees of extraordinary magnitude which he 

 had the good fortune to find, and to secure the first cones and 

 seeds of the Wellingtonia [Sequoia or Big Tree] received in 

 England. He brought these home at the end of the year, and 

 with them two living jjlants, which were afterwards planted out 



