474 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 299. 



ishes in this country, where it has proved itself perfectly- 

 hardy, and where it promises to be really valuable as an 

 ornamental plant. 



It is not thought now that Podocarpus, a genus of the 

 tropical and sub-tropical regions of both hemispheres and of 

 Tasmania, is indigenous in Japan, although two species 

 are often cultivated there. The more common is Podocar- 

 pus macrophylla, a small tree with lanceolate, acute leaves, 

 and a common hedge-plant in Tokyo gardens, in which it 

 is also often seen cut into fantastic shapes. It is a much 

 less beautiful, although a hardier, tree than Podocarpus 

 Nageia, with its thick, broad, glossy leaves and beautiful 

 purple trunks, the second species seen in Japan. It is one 

 of the favorite subjects, especially in a variety in which the 

 leaves are marked by broad white stripes, for dwarfing and 

 pot-culture. The real beauty of this tree is only seen, how- 

 ever, when it has become large and old and the trunk is 

 covered with its peculiar smooth purple bark. A grove 

 of these trees on the hill behind the Shinto temples 

 at Nara is one of the most interesting spots in Japan, and 

 in solemn dignity and beauty is only surpassed by the 

 grove of Cryptomerias which surround the mausoleums of 

 leyasu and lemitsu at Nikko. 



Like Cryptomeria, Sciadopitys is monotypic and en- 

 demic to Japan. It is one of the most curious and interest- 

 ing of trees, with scale-like leaves in whose axils are pro- 

 duced the phylloid shoots, which are generally mistaken 

 for the leaves, and which are arranged near the ends of the 

 branches like the ribs of an umbrella — a peculiarity to 

 which this tree owes its familiar English name, the Um- 

 brella Pine. 



Like the Gingko, the Sciadopitys was for a long time only 

 known from a few individuals cultivated in temple-gardens 

 and from the grove on the hill in Kiushiu, where 

 the great monastery town of Koya stands, to which the 

 Sciadopitys owes its Japanese name, Koya-maki. There is 

 said to be a remarkable grove of these trees here, which 

 was once supposed to be the original home of the species, 

 but Rein and other writers now agree in thinking that they 

 were originally planted by the monks. Dupont found 

 what he considered indigenous trees on Chimono and in 

 the province of Mino. In this province, on the Nagasendo, 

 below Nakatsu-gawa, we saw young plants of the Koya- 

 maki in all the road-side gardens, a pretty sure indication 

 in this remote region that the tree was growing in the 

 woods not very far off, and here for the next two or three 

 days we saw it sending up its narrow pyramidal heads 

 above the Pines and other trees of the forest, growing, as 

 we thought quite naturally, and leading us to believe that we 

 had found the true home of this tree, although in a country 

 like Japan, which has been densely populated for centuries, 

 and in which tree-planting has been a recognized industry 

 for more than a thousand years, it is not easy to determine 

 whether a forest has been planted by man or not. But 

 whether these trees had been planted or whether they were 

 the offspring of trees brought from some other region, or 

 the indigenous inhabitants of the forest, the Sciadopitys 

 grows on the mountains of Mino in countless thousands, 

 often rising with tall straight trunks to the height of nearly 

 a hundred feet, and remarkable in their narrow, compact, 

 pyramidal heads of dark and lustrous foliage. The wood, 

 which is nearly white, strong and straight-grained, is a 

 regular article of commerce in this part of Japan, and from 

 Nakatsu-gawa is floated in rafts down the Kiosa-gawa to 

 Osaka, where it is said to be chiefly consumed. Except in 

 the neighborhood of Nakatsu-gawa, the Sciadopitys is 

 not very much cultivated as a garden-plant in Japan ; and 

 it is not often found in old gardens, except in the immedi- 

 ate neighborhood of temples, where picturesque old speci- 

 mens may occasionally be seen occupying a place of 

 honor within the fence which encloses the principal build- 

 ings, and carefully protected by low stone raihngs. There 

 is a remarkable specimen with pendulous branches stand- 

 before one of the mortuary temples in the Shiba Park in 

 Tokyo. C. S. S. 



Plant Notes. 



The Chinese Red Bud in America. 



OUR American Red Bud, Cercis Canadensis, in early 

 spring, when the leafless branches are covered with 

 the crowded clusters of purple and red pea-shaped flowers, 

 is one of the most beautiful objects in the forest, especially 

 in some parts of the southern states, where these plants are 

 so abundant that in the flowering season they light up the 

 whole landscape. The American species, like its European 

 relative, the Judas-tree, are small trees, but the only Chi- 

 nese species which has as yet been brought into our gardens 

 is a shrub. Some idea of its habit and of the size to which 

 it grows under favorable conditions here, can be obtained 

 from an examination of the illustration on page 476 of this 

 issue, which represents a plant in a garden in Flushing, in 

 this state. It is probably one of the first specimens of 

 Cercis Chinensis ever raised in America, and it is larger 

 than any other we have seen. 



Only a shrub in size, the Chinese Cercis. produces 

 more beautifully colored flowers than either the Ameri- 

 can or European species ; it is one of the most dis- 

 tinct and attractive of early spring-flowering shrubs, and 

 should, therefore, find a place in every garden where the 

 climate is not too severe for it. The leaves, too, are a rich 

 glossy green, so that it is a desirable plant all summer long. 

 It is perfectly at home in the middle states, and in Fair- 

 mount Park, in Philadelphia, a number of excellent speci- 

 mens may be found, but north of this latitude it is not very 

 reliable, and in eastern Massachusetts it rarely flowers and 

 is usually killed in severe winters. 



Although a native of China, and not of Japan, this plant 

 is often spoken of here as the Japanese Cercis, owing to the 

 fact that it was first brought to this country from Japan, 

 where, like many other Chinese plants, it is often found in 

 gardens. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



An Interesting Nursery. — I spent a most enjoyable hour 

 yesterday in looking through the famous Swanley Nursery 

 with Mr. Cannell, whose geniality, energy and genuine 

 love of his work are, in a way, as remarkable as many of 

 the flowers he produces. The end of October is not a good 

 time in the garden, still the Begonias, though nearly over, 

 are truly wonderful in color, size and what Mr. Cannell 

 calls perfection of form. The tubers were all being lifted 

 and placed in houses on cinder bottoms to ripen and dry 

 before being sorted for export. "I send away about a 

 hundred thousand yearly," said Mr. Cannell; " not many 

 to America now because of the duty on all packages over 

 eight ounces, although I send plenty of them." I saw the 

 packing-sheds, and learned something of the skillful man- 

 ner of packing which enables Mr. Cannell to send plants all 

 over the world with success. Some cases filled with Straw- 

 berries, Rhododendrons and other plants were just starting 

 for New Zealand. The plants were fastened firmly on their 

 sides in boxes, and the lid was a sheet of stout perforated 

 zinc with a few battens across to protect it. 



The Zonal Pelargoniums were a magnificent show, house 

 after house filled with thousands of plants in five or six inch 

 pots, the foliage healthy, the trusses of bloom numerous 

 and large, while the colors ranged from snow-white to deep 

 crimson, scarlet, magenta, and, as Mr. Cannell described 

 it, " very nearly true blue. We mean to get a perfect blue- 

 flowered one, and see we are getting on ; this is one we 

 call Blue Peter." It is bluish, or, rather, very deep ma- 

 genta, dazzling enough, but not a favorite with the ladies. 

 Mr. Cannell has two-inch hot-water pipes running along 

 the beds, level with and touching the leaves of the Pelargo- 

 niums, and hot even on a sunny afternoon. The secret of 

 success with these plants, Mr. Cannellsaid, istogrow them 

 in a dry atmosphere, when they will produce flowers that will 



1 



