THUIA LOBBI. 257 



colour they retain through the winter months, and by which this 

 species is easily distinguished from T. occidentalis. 



Habitat. — North-west America, between latitudes 45° and 55° N., 

 and from the Eocky Mountains to the Pacific. It attains its greatest 

 developement in the neighbourhood of the Columbia Eiver. 



Introduced by us in 1853, through our collector, William Lobb. 



Thuia Ldbbi is very variable, both in its native country and 

 under cultivation. There is a collection of many varieties in the Edin- 

 burgh Botanic Garden, formed by the late curator, Mr. MeXab, all 

 showing some greater or less departure in habit or foliage from the 

 usual type. Among the forms that have been perpetuated by horti- 

 culturists, may be mentioned an atrovirens, a pumila, a vavU'gaia, 

 &c, names sufficiently indicative of the character of the varieties to 

 which they are applied. 



The economic value of. Thuia Lobbi in its native country is 

 considerable. " Its timber is fine grained, bright . yellow, and much 

 ' used for building purposes. The natives at Nootka Sound manufacture) 

 their cloaks of its inner bark, which- is very pliable and soft, and 

 is also made into mats, sails, ropes, &c. The bark, which is rather 

 thin, is also used in covering the roofs of houses and other buildings.* 

 In Great Britain, its chief value consists in its ornamental qualities. 

 It is an elegant tree for the park and lawn, and especially effective, 

 if planted in proximity to ornamental water where the soil' is not 

 water-logged ; it is also one of the best Conifers for the formation of 

 evergreen hedges. 



Thuia Lobbi is described under the name of T. gigantea by some 

 writers, and T. Menziesii by others,! while the name under which we 

 distributed it is generally adopted by horticulturists. By Carriere and 

 Hochstetter, the Liboeedrus decurrens of Torrey is described under the 

 name of Thuia gigantea, and by this name that tree is generally 

 known among horticulturists hi Great Britain. There is, therefore, a 

 confusion in the nomenclature of the two species, which it is very 

 desirable should be got rid of. It originated in this manner : — A 

 few years previous to the introduction of T. Lobbi to British gardens, 

 Nuttall, an American botanist, published his Plants of the Rocky 

 Mountains. At page 52 of that work, a Thuia is described under 

 the name of T. gigantea, which some refer to our T. Lobbi, and 

 others \ to the Liboeedrus decurrens of Torrey, discovered during the 



* Sir E. Belcher, Voyage Mound the World ; ex Gordon, Pinetum, p. 402. But it is quite 

 probable that Cupressus nutkaensis may be the tree Sir Edward refers to, see p. 236. 



t Carriere, Traite General des Com/ires, p. 107. Henkel and Hochstetter, Nadclholzer, 

 p. 281* Pmacex, by Senilis, p. 67. 



% See Parlatore, Prod, xvi,, p. 457 ; A. Murray, in Gardeners' Chronicle, 1873, p. 

 1717 ; Gordon, Pinetum, p. 402 ; Hugh Eraser's Sandy Book of Conifers, p. 151. 



