68 PINACE^. 



timljer tree ; and if it has not, it ought to have, a place in every pine- 

 tuni or arboretum, and collection of trees, whether for iise or ornament. 



Thuja OccideNTALIS : TheWestern or American Arbor- Vitas. 



This is the prototype of the Arbor- Yitses ; a well-known, hardy, 

 useful, and accommodating little tree, and has been more or less cul- 

 tivated in Britain for the past two hundred and seventy years. It 

 attains heights of from twenty to fifty feet, and may be usefully em- 

 ployed in every description of ornamental planting, whether in 

 arboretum or pinetum, park or pleasure ground, plantation or shrub- 

 bery. The country is its situation, where it will make itself at 

 home ; and for forming shelter or ornamental hedges, for domestic 

 planting as screens or blinds, or for manipulation into rustics, gro- 

 tesques, or plant statues, it is admirably adapted, for it endures to be 

 cut and shorn with impunity. There are, as a matter of course, many 

 varieties, and sub-varieties of it, but the only ones I consider worthy 

 commendation are — Aurea, (th.egolden,)Argentea, (the silvery- variegated,) 

 Densa, (dense-branched,) ikTcrei'^ro-sa, (rustic-branched,) Pe?Z(i;iZa, (droop - 

 ing-branched,) and Pendula variegata, (variegated pendent-branched.) 



Thuja Plicata : The Plaited Arbor-Yitae. 



This is merely an altered form of Antarctica; having more tufted 

 and stouter branches and shorter branchlets, which are more densely 

 covered with small, ovate, blunt-pointed leaves; which are disposed in 

 four rows, but so arranged on the stems as to give the branches a 

 plaited appearance ; hence the name and the variety. There are of 

 this kind a Pygmm, (very dwarf,) and a Variegata, (variegated-leaved. ) 

 The parent, Plicata, is a native of I^orth-West America ; plentiful at 

 Nootka Sound, also in JSTorthern Mexico ; it is hardy and useful as a 

 small shrub, and so are its two varieties. 



Thuja SiberiCA: The Siberian Arbor- Yita3. 



This is a thoroughly hardy, sturdy, compact, well-built Httle tree, 

 attaining heights of from eight to fifteen feet. It deserves to be 

 more extensively planted as a generally useful shrub, for it is better 

 adapted for many purposes than the prototype Occidentalis. There 

 are several varieties of it, but I only recognise three, Gracilis, (slender- 

 branched,) Pendula, (drooping-branched,) and Variegata, (variegated- 

 leaved.) 



§ 7. Yeil^ : The True Cypress. 



In this section we have the Cypress in its true or original form — 

 the trees which the ancients recognised as their cypress ; and all the 



