976 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABBEN PLANTS 



THUYA 



ing in 4 rows, decurrent at the base, and 

 borne on plaited or flattened branohlets. 

 Cones 1 in. or more long, olive-brown, 

 erect and solitary at the tips of the upper 

 branohlets. This plant is often erroneously 

 called Thuya gigamtea in gardens. There 

 is a specimen over 50 ft. high at Orton 

 LonguevUle, Huntingdon, the seat of the 

 Marquis of Huntly. The variety com- 

 pacta is denser and dwarfer in habit than 

 the type, and glwuca is distinguished by 

 the glaucous-green ' bloom.' 



h. doniana and h. tetragona, both 

 beautiful trees, are scarcely hardy enough 

 for permanent outdoor cultivation in the 

 British Islands. 



Culture dc. as above. 



THUYA (Aeboe ViT^). — A genus 

 of ornamental trees or shrubs with small 

 opposite scale-like appressed leaves, im- 

 bricated in 4 rows, on flattened branchlets. 

 Flowers monoecious, the male catkins 

 oval, the female catkins ovoid or oblong, 

 solitary. Cones ovoid oblong, leathery and 

 smooth, with a projecting tubercle below 

 the tip of each scale. Scales 6-10, un- 

 equal, in opposite pairs, the 2 uppermost 

 pairs seed-bearing. Seeds usually winged 

 on both sides, except in T. orientaUs. 



Culture a/nd Propagation. - — The 

 various species of Arbor Vitss thrive in 

 rich sandy loam, and may be increased 

 in the same way as the Lihocedrus by 

 means of seeds sown under glass, and 

 by cuttings of the more or less ripened 

 shoots inserted in sandy soil under hand- 

 lights or in cold frames in summer and 

 autmnn. 



T. dolabrata (Thwyopsis dolabrata). — 

 A beautiful tree from the mountains of 

 Japan, where it grows 40-50 ft. high, 

 but only about half that height in 

 the most favoured parts of the British 

 Islands. It has drooping flattened branch- 

 lets furnished with 4 rows of broad thick 

 rounded oval scale-like imbricating leaves, 

 furrowed along the centre, deep shining 

 green above, silvery white beneath. 

 Cones small ovoid or roundish, consisting 

 of 8-10 woody scales. The variety Icete- 

 virens (or nana) is a beautiful dense- 

 growing bush seldom exceeding 4-6 ft. 

 high. It makes an excellent evergreen 

 hedge, and bears clipping weU. The 

 variety variegata is recognised by its pale 

 yellowish branchlets. It grows 15-20 ft. 

 high. 



There is a specimen of T. dolabrata 

 about 40 years old at Bocoimoo, Corn- 

 wall, over 25 ft. high. 



Culture Ac. as above. 



T. gigantea (T. Menziesi ; also T. 

 Lohhi, and T. craigiana of gardens). — 

 White Cedar — A graceful pyramidal tree, 

 native of N.W. America, where it reaches 

 a height of 100-150 ft. and is found in 

 'low, rich woods and swamps, and less 

 commonly on dry ridges and slopes below 

 5200 ft. elevation.' Leaves in alternate 

 opposite pairs closely imbricated, and 

 borne on flattened slender flexible branch- 

 lets. Cones small ovoid, tapering at both 

 ends. 



There are several varieties of T. 

 gigantea, the best known being atrovirens, 

 aurescens, erecta, gracilis, pumila, and 

 variegata — names which convey then- 

 own meaning and indicate the peculiarity 

 of the plants. 



Culture amd Propagation In the 



British Islands this tree flourishes in 

 rather stiff or light moist loam, and some- 

 ■ times, as at Linton Park, Maidstone, and 

 Woodstock, Kilkenny, reaches a height of 

 60-65 ft. or more in the course of 30 years 

 or so. 



T. japonica (Thuya Stamdishi) A 



native of the Japanese mountains, having 

 straight flat 2-edged branches and bluntly 

 ovate leaves, deep glossy green above, duU 

 glaucous-white beneath, closely imbricated 

 in opposite pairs and 4 rows. 



This forms a nice small tree in cultiva- 

 tion, a specimen in the Duke of Buccleuch's 

 garden at Dalkeith being about 20 ft. high, 

 and about 25 years old. 



Culture do. as above. 



T.occidentalis (American Arhor Vitee). 

 A beautiful tree 40-60 ft. high, native 

 of the cold wet swamps and along the 

 rocky banks of streams in N. America. 

 Leaves very small in opposite pairs, 

 bluntly ovate rhomboid, thickly imbricat- 

 ing in 4 rows along the branchlets. Cones 

 obovoid, ^ in. long, shortly stalked. 

 There are 50 or more garden forms of the 

 American Arbor Vitse supposed to be in 

 cultivation, but they can all probably be 

 reduced to about half a dozen. Those 

 known as alba, atirea, argentea, com- 

 pacta, pendula, and variegata are the 

 most distinct, and the peculiarity of each 

 is indicated by the name. Elltoangeriana 

 is also an ornamental variety of compact 



