CONIFERS 



CONIFERS 



359 



combination with deciduous trees or in clumps, by them- 

 selves or in single specimens, offer striking effects. 



There are two types of natural or native beauty in the 

 Conifers— the symmetrical and verdurous beauty of the 

 young specimen (Figs. 530, 531 ; Pig. 1, p. 1), and the 

 picturesque and rugged beauty of the old and time- 

 worn tree (Figs. 532, 533). Aside from these, there are 

 also odd, grotesque and formal cultivated varieties, 

 as typified in the weeping spruce (Pig. 534), the colum- 

 nar junipers (Pig. 535), and the various dwarf pines and 

 spruces (Fig. 536). 



The majority of the species belonging to this group, 

 as well as their greatest numerical development, is 

 found in the temperate zones, only a few belonging to 

 subtropical or tropical countries, among which are the 

 Araucarias, from South America; the Dammara, Dacryd- 

 ium, and Phyllocladus, from Australia, etc. 



The order Conifersa comprises nearly 40 genera, and 

 about 300 species. Our own native flora, with 15 genera 

 and not less than 100 species and subspecies, is among 

 the richest, the bulk of these being found on the 

 Pacific coast. The Atlantic side offers 28 species, repre- 

 senting the genus Pinus with 12 species out of 39; 1 

 Larix out of 3; 3 Piceas out of 7; 2 Tsugas out of 5; 2 

 Abies out of 12; 1 Taxodium; 1 Thuja out of 2; 1 

 ChamsBcyparis out of 3 ; 3 Juniperus out of 11 ; 1 Tumion 

 (Torreya) out of 2; 1 arborescent Taxus out of 2: being 

 without representatives of the genus Pseudotsuga, Se- 

 quoia, Libocedrus, and Cupressus. There are to be 

 added a large number (not less than 400) of nursery- 

 men's varieties, which have been enumerated in Bull. 

 17 of the Division of Forestry, U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 

 ture. 



There are also a number of exotic Conifers which 

 promise satisfactory results if used in suitable locali- 

 ties, climate and soil. The Norway Spruce (Picea ex- 

 celsa) recommends itself by its elegant gothic form, 

 often with pendulous brauchlets, its very rapid growth, 

 and its wide adaptation to soils and climates, together 

 with its ease of propagation and cheapness. It excels 

 in form and rapidity of growth most of the American 

 spruces. Like all Conifers, after the 25th to 40th year it 

 must pass through a period of change in form, during 

 which it loses, for a time, its shapeliness. The Scotch 

 Pine [Pinus sylvestris) has nothing to recommend it 

 which may not be found in native species, except, per- 

 haps, adaptation to the dry climate of the west, and 

 cheapness. The Austrian Pine, on the other hand, is an 



530. The beauty of young evergreens lies in their symmetry 

 and the preservation of the lower limbs. 



acquisition by its stout growth in its youth, although the 

 Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) would probably do as well; 

 so far, its small cones and seed have made the latter ex- 

 pensive. The European Larch outgrows the native nor- 

 thern one easily, but Larix occt'dentoiis, from the interior 



531. A good spruce tree. 



basin, will probably do as well or better. There is no 

 particular commendation for the Europe Fir, but the 

 Nordmann Fir, from the Caucasus, is a most decided 

 aquisition, by its beauty and adaptation ; so is the most 

 graceful of all 

 spruces, Picea orien- 

 talis, while the Span- 

 ish Abies Pinsapo 

 will always attract at- 

 tention by its pecu- 

 liar shape and foliage. 



Of other ornamen- 

 tal forms which are 

 without representa- 

 tives in the U. S., and 

 hence fill vacancies, 

 may be mentioned, as 

 capable of adapta- 

 tion, and, more or 

 less in use, from 

 South America, the 

 Araucarias ; from 

 Africa and Eastern 

 Asia, Cedrus Deo- 

 dara, X/ibani, Atlan- 

 iica, Abies Appoli- 

 nisandCiUcica; from 

 Korea, the promis- 

 ing, more densely fo- 

 liaged White Pine, P. 

 Kara iensis ; from 

 China, Cunning- 

 hamia. Biota, Glyp- 

 tostrobus, Cephalo- 

 taxus, Podocarpus, 

 Pseudolarix, and, 

 above all, that inter- 

 esting remnant of 

 former ages, the 

 Maidenhair- tree, 

 Gingko biJoba, which 

 will maintain itself anywhere along the Atlantic coast if 

 propagated from seed of the prop^ localities. Japan 

 has furnished a number of additions, especially Reti- 

 nosporas, Torreyas, Taxus, various Pinus, Piceas and 

 Tsugas, with the peculiar Sciadopitys vertlcillala, the 

 Umbrella Pine, and, the most acceptable of all, the 

 graceful Gryptomeria Japonica. 



As with all introductions from one country to another, 

 nay, from one climatic region to another, caution is ad- 

 vised, so it may be laid down as a rule, that exotics 

 should be used with great discretion, and, until their 

 adaptation is amply demonstrated, only in a subordinate • 

 manner. If it is in general true that perennial plants 

 can only be transplanted with permanent success into 

 similar climatic conditions, it must be especially true 

 with the conifers, which do not lose their foliage, and 

 hence must be able to bear summer as well as winter con- 

 ditions. The Long-leaf Pine of the south, most striking 

 of our pines, may, therefore, not be transplanted far be- 

 yond its northern limit, and, if we desire to utilize any 

 of the Pacific coast species in the east, we will have to 

 secure them at least from the highest and driest alti- 

 tudes and exposures or, if, as in the case of some spe- 

 cies, like the Douglas Fir and Engelmann Spruce, their 

 field of distribution covers the dry slopes of the Rocky 

 mountains as well as the moist slopes of the coast 

 ranges, we may be successful if we choose our plant 

 material from these drier slopes. 



Of the many native species, we may discard a num- 

 ber that are not of any particular value, although the 

 distinction could be more readily accomplished from 

 the economic point of view than from the standpoint of 

 the horticulturist and landscape gardener, for almost 

 every one has a distinctive feature of either form or 

 adaptation to soil or- other interest. For each climatic 

 region the choice must be different; hence it would be 

 Impossible to give, in the brief space of an article, in- 

 telligent advice as to best selections. In general, be- 

 sides climatic limitations, the following considerations 

 may serve in the choice of native species. The pines, 

 as a rule, are not to be placed on compact, clay soil, and, 

 on account of their taproot, not on shallow soils, on 



