Alnus 953 



only one in cultivation, and grows on the banks of streams in sub-alpine regions in 

 Yezo and Hondo. 



2. Var. Sieboldiana, Winkler, loc. cit. Alnus Sieboldiana, Matsumura. 

 Branchlets glabrous. Lateral nerves twelve to fifteen pairs. Cones solitary, 



I inch long. A native of the sea-coast in Hondo. 



3. N-dx. yashtt; Winkler, loc. cit. Alnus yaska, Matsumura. 



Branchlets pubescent. Lateral nerves twelve to fifteen pairs. Cones solitary 

 or racemose, f inch long. Occurs in mountain woods in Kiusiu, Shikoku, and 

 Hondo. 



According to Sargent, Alnus firma is largely planted along the borders of rice- 

 fields near Tokyo, to afford support for the poles on which the freshly cut rice is 

 hung to dry. He observed var. -multinervis on the mountains of Hondo, where it 

 grows on dry rocky soil and reaches 5000 feet elevation, and describes it as a 

 graceful tree 20 to 30 feet in height. The species, as mentioned above under the 

 varieties, is widely distributed throughout the whole of Japan. 



It was introduced by Sargent into New England in 1892 ; and, according to 

 Winkler, was brought by Zabel into the forest garden of Miinden in Germany. 

 There are trees 6 to 10 feet in height in the collection at Kew. It is a remarkably 

 distinct species, with plicate many - nerved leaves, recalling those of two other 

 Japanese trees, viz. : Carpinus japonica and Acer carpinifo Hum ; and is worthy of a 

 place in collections of shrubs, as it scarcely can be considered to be a tree. 



(A. H.) 



ALNUS JAPONICA, Japanese Alder 



Alnus japonica, Siebold et Zuccarini, Abh. Akad. Miinchen, iv. 3, p. 320 (1845); Sargent, Garden 

 and Forest, vi. 343, f. 53 (1893), and Forest Flora, Japan, 63, t. 20 (1894); Shirasawa, Icon. 

 Ess. Forest. Japan, text 38, t. 19, ff. 18-34 (1900) ; Winkler, Betulacece, 114 (1904). 



Alnus maritima, Nuttall, \a.r. Japonica, Regal, in DC. Frod. xvi. 2, p. 186 (1868). 



Alnus maritima, Nuttall, yzx. formosana, BuikiW, Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xxvi. 500 (1899). 



A tree attaining about 80 feet in height. Young branchlets usually glabrous. 

 Leaves (Plate 268, Fig. 12) about 4 inches long and i^ to if inch wide, lanceolate 

 or narrowly elliptical, cuneate at the base, long-acuminate at the apex ; margin not 

 lobulate, finely serrate ; nerves, about twelve pairs, mostly running to the margin ; 

 upper surface dark green, shining, pubescent on the midrib and nerves ; lower surface 

 light green, glabrous except for minute axil-tufts ; petiole about \ inch, slightly 

 pubescent. Buds minute, stalked, glabrous, glandular. 



Flowers,^ appearing in spring, the fruit ripening in autumn ; otherwise similar 

 to Alnus maritima. 



This species occurs in Japan, Manchuria, Korea, and Formosa. In Manchuria^ 

 it grows along the sea-coast from St. Olga Bay southwards, and also inland, either 

 solitary or in groups, in sandy soil along the rivers. It has been collected in Korea 



1 In Formosa, according to Burkill, the flowers are produced later, in summer ; and he adduces this as a reason for 

 uniting this species with the American A. maritima. ^ Komarov, Flora Manshuria, ii. 60 (1904). 



IV 2 I 



