378 SCIADOPITYS. 



sols on it, according to its age ; but in the fourth year they 

 fall off. The cones are elliptic or cylindrical, obtuse at the 

 ends, and from two and a half to three inches long, and one 

 inch and a half in diameter, and not unlike those of Finns 

 Cembra, but longer, and require two years to ripen. The seed 

 leaves are in twos, and very similar to those of the common 

 Yew. 



Dr. Siebold considers the Parasol Fir the finest conifer of 

 Japan, and one which presents an appearance as strange as 

 elegant, in consequence of its innumerable ramifications, which 

 always end in a parasol-like tuft of leaves. Dr. Lindley says 

 the Sciadopitys is nearly related to the Genus Wellingtonia, a 

 statement which, from all appearances, seems very questionable. 



Its Japanese names are " Koja-Maki "* (the wild or Mount 

 Kojasan Maki), and " Inu-Maki " (the spurious or false Maki) ; 

 while those of the Chinese are " Kin-sung-Maki " (the pale 

 j'ellow Maki), and " Kin-sjo " (common yellow) on account of 

 the leaves being of a pale or yellowish-green colour when 

 young. 



It is quite hardy, and has several varieties, besides the fol- 

 lowing one — 



Sciadopitys verticillata variegata. Fortune, the Variegated 



Parasol Fir. 



This variety differs in having some of its leaves of a pale 

 yellow colour, intermixed in the parasol-like whorls. 



It forms a striking object, and is much grown in the gardens 

 belonging to the wealthy Japanese, especially in the eastern 

 part of the island of Nippon, where it is also much planted 

 around temples and other sacred places of worship. 



Mr. Fortune first sent it to the Royal Nursery at Bagshot in 

 1861, from the neighbourhood of Yeddo, in Japan. 



* Maki is the name commonly applied, both in China and Japan, to all 

 the large-leaved Yew-like plants, such as Podocarpus, Sciadopitys, &c. 



