188 NAGEIA, OR 



the brauchlets of a reddish colour, and the buds rounded and 

 obtuse. 



It is very doubtful of what country it is a native, but most 

 probably China, or Japan, or the Mountains of India. 



It is quite tender. 



No. 5. Nageia Japonica, Gcertner, the Japan Laurel 

 Syn. Podocarpus Nageia, R. Brown. 

 „ Cupressus bambusacea, Otolanzan. 

 „ Myrica Nagi, Thunberg. 

 „ Laurus julifera, Kcempfer. 



Leaves, in opposite pairs, but frequently alternate, elliptic, or 

 oblong-lanceolate, attenuated at the base, and acuminate at the 

 point ; three inches long, and rather more than one inch broad 

 in the widest part. Branches, spreading, alternate, or opposite, 

 slender, swelling at the place of insertion, frequently pendent, 

 and furnished with leaves in double pairs, or in threes, an inch 

 apart between each set; of the same colour on both sides, smooth, 

 and of a dull, purplish-green colour. Flowers, dioecious, but 

 sometimes both kinds are on the same plant. Male catkins, in 

 threes or fours, on a common footstalk, rising from the axil of 

 the leaves. Fruit, solitary, very rarely produced in pairs 

 axillary and globose ; half an inch long, frequently with the 

 peduncle curved, and when ripe, of a blackish-purple colour on 

 the outside, covered with a glaucous powder resembling that 

 on the common sloe ; rind very thin, soft, succulent, insipid, 

 loosely adhering, and orbicular; about the size of a cherry, 

 quite round, smooth, and with a small top-shaped point on the 

 apex ; shell, hard, thin, and brittle, enclosing a seed covered 

 with a reddish cuticle, and slightly bitter. 



A handsome tree, growing from thirty to sixty feet high, 

 with the stem covered with a smooth, soft, fleshy-brown bark ; 

 that on the branches being of a beautiful green, and when cut, 

 emitting. a strong balsamic odour. 



It is found abundantly in China and Japan, on the moun- 



