144^ The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



The finest specimen in Britain is probably one growing in the garden of 

 Stourton Court, Stourbridge, the residence of R. Matthews, Esq. This is well 

 figured in Journ. R. Hort. Soc. xxxiii. 327 (1908), where it is stated to measure 

 6 ft. high and 57^ ft. in circumference. The soil is Old Red Sandstone. 



The young green shoots of the Savin are used in medicine, and yield a volatile 

 oil, which is officinal and possesses extremely active properties.^ (H. J. E.) 



JUNIPERUS EXCELSA 



Juntperus excelsa^ Bieberstein, Beschr. Land. Casp. 204, App. No. 72 (1800), zxA Fl. Taur. Catic. 



ii. 425 (1808); Parlatore, in De Candolle, Frod. xvi. 2, p. 484 (1868); Boissier, Fl. Orient. 



V. 708 (1881); Siehe, in Gartenflora, xlvi. 208, t. 26 (1897); Kent, Veitch's Man. Conif. 174 



(1900). 

 Juniperus Sabina, Linnseus, var. iaurica, Pallas, Fl. Ross. ii. 15 (1788). 

 Juntperus Sabina, Linnaeus, var. excelsa, Georgi, Besch. Fuss. Reichs, iii. 1358 (1802). 

 Juniperus faiida, var. excelsa, Spach (excl. syn. Amer.), in Ann. Sc. Nat. xvi. 297 (1841). 

 Juniperus polycarpos and isophyllos, Koch, in Linnma, xxii. 303, 304 (1849). 

 Juniperus Olivierii, Carriere, Conif. 57 (1855). 

 Juniperus cBgaa, Grisebach, Veg. der Erde, 378, 572 (1872). 

 Sabitia excelsa, polycarpos, and isophyllos, Antoine, Cupress. Gatt. 45, 47, 48 (1857). 



A tree, occasionally attaining in Asia Minor a height of 70 to 100 ft. Leaves 

 dimorphic in wild specimens ; but juvenile foliage is rarely seen on cultivated adult 

 trees of the typical form. Adult foliage ; ultimate branchlets very slender, ^ in. or 

 less in diameter ; leaves scale -like, closely appressed, in four ranks in opposite 

 decussate pairs, ovate-rhombic, about -^ in. long, acute or obtuse, marked in the 

 middle on the back with a depressed oval or linear gland ; leaves on older branchlets, 

 in pairs or in threes, spreading, mucronate, glandular on the back. Juvenile foliage, 

 when present ^ ; leaves acicular, spreading, in opposite pairs, ^ to ;|^ in. long, concave 

 above with two stomatic bands, marked on the lower surface with a linear gland at 

 the base. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Fruit, ripening in the second year, on short 

 scaly stalks, globose, \ to ^ in. in diameter, smooth, dark purplish brown, covered 

 with a bluish bloom when ripe, composed of four or six scales, each marked by a 

 minute mucro. Seeds, about six in each fruit, oblong, more or less triquetrous, 

 apiculate at the apex. 



I. Var. stricta, Rollisson, ex Gordon, Pinetum, 144 (1875). 



A tree, narrowly pyramidal in habit, with glaucous juvenile foliage ; leaves 

 acicular, slightly spreading, about | in. long including the basal decurrent part^ 

 whitened with a stomatic band above, marked with a minute gland near the base on 

 the lower surface. 



This originated in Messrs. Rollisson's nursery at Tooting, and appears to be 



' Cf. Fluckiger and Hanbury, Phannacographia, 628 (1879). 



2/. excelsa, Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iv. 2503 (1838), includes a mixture of junipers from Siberia, the Himalayas, 

 and North America, and does not appear to refer to the true plant from Asia Minor. 

 ^ Described from a native specimen collected by Hausknecht. 



