260 A MANUAL OF THE CONIFERS. 



summer of 1849, and at once made arrangements for exploring southern 

 California. Lobb's experience as a collector, his indomitable perse- 

 verance and courage, which was deterred by no danger, no toil, or no 

 privation, enabled him to surmount difficulties and accomplish enter- 

 prises during the succeeding seven years of his collecting excursions 

 through California and Oregon, which were scarcely equalled by 

 Douglas himself. One of the first fruits of his expedition to southern 

 California was the successful introduction of Abies bradeata.* During 

 the years 1850-1, he sent home consignments of cones and seeds of 

 Pinus insignis, P. muricata, P. Sabiniana, P. macrocarpa, P. tubercu. 

 lata ; also of many shrubs and flowering plants, some of which were 

 quite new to British gardens. In the autumn of 1851 he extended 

 his operations further north, and collected cones and seeds of the 

 Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Pinus Lambertiana. P. monticola, &c. 

 In 1852 he made an excursion to the Columbia Eiver and Oregon, 

 where he succeeded in obtaining seeds of Abies Douglasii and A. 

 nobilis, still rare at that time in England, and the beautiful Thuia 

 named after him. Returning through north California, he collected 

 seeds of Abies grandis, A. rnagnifica, which he sent home under the 

 name of A. amabilis, believing it to be the A. amabilis of Douglas, 

 A. concolor (lasiocarpa), the first received in England of that fine Fir, 

 Juniperus occidentalis, Pinus ponderosa, &c. In 1853 he explored the 

 Sierra Nevada, whither he was led by the reports of the discovery of 

 trees of extraordinary magnitude, and which he had the good fortune 

 to find, and to secure the first cones and seeds of the Wellingtonia 

 received in England. He brought these home at the end of the 

 year. He also brought home with him two living plants, which were 

 afterwards planted out in our Exeter Nursery, where they survived 

 but three or four years, f Lobb returned to California in the autumn 

 of 1854, and from that time up to the end of 1856 he continued 

 to send home consignments of plants and seeds. In 1857 his engage- 

 ment with Mr. Veitch terminated. He remained, however, in California, 

 and sent collections of seeds to England from time to time. In 

 1863 he was seized with paralysis, and lost the use of, his limbs, 

 which probably his long journeyings in thinly populated countries, and 

 consequent exposure to all weathers, had predisposed. He died at 

 San Francisco in the autumn of the same year. 



Lobb's labours and journeyings as a collector of new and rare plants 

 extended over a period nearly as long again as that of any of the 

 excellent and fearless men who have ventured their lives in similar 

 missions ; the distance he travelled, the fatigues he encountered, and 



* Bot. Mag., Tab. 4740. It is a remarkable fact that no seeds of Abies bradeata were 

 received in England alive till more than twenty-five years afterwards. 



t The statement- of a correspondent in the Journal of Horticulture for January 25th, 

 1877, is incorrect. 



