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A MANUAL OP THE CONIFEEJJ. 



name, which is a literal translation of the popular name. It is much 

 cultivated by the Japanese, who possess several sub-varieties of it. 



The first living plant was received in England in 1853. In that 

 year Mr. Thomas Lobb obtained one from the garden of the Dutch 



Governor of Java, which he forwarded to 

 our Exeter Nursery. The plant arrived in 

 very feeble health, and all attempts to 

 restore it proved fruitless. Cones and seeds 

 were sent home eight years later by Mr. 

 J. Gr. Veitch, from which some of the 

 finest specimens in England were raised. 

 In Sciadopitys we have not only one of 

 the most distinct Conifers, but also one of 

 the most remarkable evergreen trees ever 

 introduced. There is scarcely any depart- 

 ment of ornamental planting into which it 

 may not be introduced with excellent effect ; 

 and whether planted singly as a specimen, 

 or in combination with other trees and 

 shrubs for contrast and variety, its sym- 

 metrical habit and peculiar foliage mark it 

 out as one of the most characteristic of 

 decorative subjects. The experience of the 

 past twenty years has proved its hardiness; 

 and although in this country it is growing 

 under climatal conditions somewhat different 

 from those of its native home, and its 

 growth is rather slow, it makes satisfac- 

 tory progress when established in good 

 soils and screened from piercing winds. 



Whatever may have been its past history, 

 and that has yet to be unfolded, its 

 restricted habitat and comparative paucity 

 of numbers are significant facts in its 

 present condition. Found wild only in 

 Kg. «.— Cone of Sciadopitys vertmiiata, one locality of a limited extent, and in 



with foliage leaves developed at the apex. .... . ,. 



proximity to a dense population, in a 

 country in which the. forests are rapidly disappearing, the fate of 

 the Sciadopitys will not remain long in suspense. It will doubtless be 

 preserved indefinitely by the hand of the horticulturist, on whom alone 

 the perpetuation of the tree will ultimately depend. 



Sciadopitys is derived from o-icide, bkioZoq (skias, skiados), "a parasol," 

 and ttItvq (pitys), the Pine tree. The specific name, verticillata, refers 

 to the whorled arrangement of the leaves. The popular name, " The 

 Parasol Pine," is of Japanese origin, and is said to have been given 



