Cboice Urees an& Sbrubs 329 



unequalled beauty, light coloured, rich, and drooping, 

 and there is the same beauty in its inner spaces which 

 has been noticed in the Carolina hemlock. One of 

 the finest evergreens to be seen anywhere is a specimen 

 of Abies concolor in the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica 

 Plain, Boston, Mass. It stands forty feet high, is some- 

 what narrow compared to many other evergreens of 

 the same size, but is compact and of perfect symmetry 

 and unsurpassed colour. The colour is finer than that 

 of the highly prized blue spruce, Picea pungens, but 

 more of that hereafter. Abies nobilis (noble silver fir) 

 is fine for its deep blue colour and picturesque form, 

 but many of the silver firs that thrive in Europe do not 

 in North America, and this is one. Noteworthy in 

 this respect are the balsam firs, Nordman's fir, Euro- 

 pean silver fir {Abies pectinata), and Silver Spanish fir 

 {Abies pinsapo). The Veitch's silver fir {Abies veitchii) 

 and the Nikko fir {Abies homolepis, synonym brachy- 

 phylla) are, however, entirely hardy and satisfactory. 

 The biotas or Chinese arbor-vitse can hardly be said 

 to be entirely hardy in the northern States of America. 

 The biotas are a beautiful family with fine tints of blue 

 and green and gold. 



The cedars, so beautiful in Europe, Lebanon, deo- 

 dara, and Atlas, are not hardy in the Middle States of 

 the United States. The cryptomerias, especially the 

 lobbi, which is certainly hardy, are strange, oriental 

 looking trees that seem a little out of place in American 

 or European landscapes. They belong, particularly, 

 in a Japanese garden. The cypresses, especially 



