BIOTA OBIENTALIS. 253 



Biota orientalis elegantissima.— A dwarf variety, of fastigiate 

 habit ; the branchlets are somewhat more rigid than in the usual 

 type, and the foliage is of fine golden-yellow, which colour it 

 retains through the summer months. 



This variety originated in the Nursery of Messrs. Rollisson, at Tooting. 



Biota orientalis falcata. — A variety of dense conical habit, from 

 10 to 12 feet high, producing large green cones or strobiles, having 

 the spine at the end of the scales turned backwards like a small 

 sickle. 



It was introduced by Mr. J. G. Veitch from Yokohama, in Japan. 



Biota orientalis japonica.— A variety of very distinct habit. The 

 lower branches are spreading, and the tree assumes a bold globose 

 form; the diameter of the spread of branches at the base is 

 nearly as much as half the height of the tree, which at top 

 tapers off abruptly. The scale-like leaves are pointed and less 

 closely appressed to the stem than in the common form. 



Biota orientalis meldensis.— A low pyramidal tree with ascending 

 branches, often so flexible as to bend in any direction, by which 

 the plant acquires an irregular awkward habit. The leaves are 

 subulate, short, pointed, slightly inclined towards the stem, and 

 light bluish glaucous green, which changes to a deeper shade, with 

 a reddish-brown tint in winter. 



Biota orientalis meldensis is a " juvenile " form in which the 

 leaves are never scale-like as in the species. According to M. 

 Carriere,* it originated at Meaux, about the year 1853, from seed of 

 B. orientalis, gathered in the cemetery, of Trilbardon, near that town. 

 It was supposed to be a hybrid between the "Virginian Red Cedar and 

 the Chinese Arbor Vitae, because, in the cemetery in question, several 

 trees of these two species are planted side by side. But as analogous 

 forms of Biota and allied genera are in cultivation whose origin is 

 known, this hypothesis is unnecessary. 



Biota orientalis pendula shows a wider departure from the type 

 than any variety yet obtained; the branches are elongated into 

 flexible, pensile cord-like appendages, with few ramifications, and 



* Tralti OMral dcs Conifires, p. 103. 



