240 A MANUAL OF THE CONIFEE^! 



larly known as the Cedar of Goa, and is supposed to have been 

 introduced into Portugal from Goa, on the west coast of India, but as 

 no Gymnospermous plants are • now found wild in that part of the 

 country, there is reason for doubting its Indian origin. It has become 

 naturalised in Portugal and some parts of Spain, from whence numerous 

 varieties find their way into English gardens, that generally perish 

 during the first severe winter to which they are exposed. 



II.— RETINOSPORA (Siebold). The Japanese Cyfkess. 



The Retinosporas, which now constitute a rather numerous group, 

 are trees and shrubs presenting much diversity in habit and colour 

 of foliage. They are all referable, with two or three exceptions, to 

 two well denned forms or species, Retinospora obtusa and R. pisifera, 

 natives of Japan, but which, under cultivation, both in their native 

 country and in European gardens, have sported into many distinct 

 and beautiful varieties. Their introduction to British gardens is 

 comparatively recent. The typical or normal kinds, together with 

 several of the most distinct of the Japanese varieties, were brought 

 to England by the late Mr. J. G. Veitch in 1861, and in the same 

 year other varieties were sent to Mr. Standish, of Ascot, by Mr. 

 Robert Fortune. 



The Eetinosporas are quite hardy, thriving best in a moist soil and 

 in a situation not too exposed. The fastigiate and dwarf varieties 

 require but little space, but Retinospora obtusa and R. pisifera attain 

 the dimensions of large trees in Japan, and are handsome specimens 

 for the park as well as for the lawn. The variegated and upright 

 forms are suitable for terrace and geometric gardens ; the dwarf and 

 procumbent kinds are excellent rock plants ; there is, in fact, no 

 department of ornamental gardening • in which this beautiful group of 

 Conifers does not furnish some of the most appropriate as well as the 

 handsomest subjects. 



Retinospora * is a compound word formed from prp-ivt) (rhetine), 

 " resin," and anopa (spora) "seed." 



The chief characters upon which Siebold founded the genus are, 



that each scale of the strobile or cone bears only two seeds and 



that the seeds themselves are marked wifrh resinous blotches. But 



"instances of the scales bearing more than two seeds are of frequent 



occurrence, and the seeds of Cupressus Laivsoniana are marked with 



* Siebold has Eetinispora, Flora Japonica, ii., p. 36. 



