TAXODIUM 



GONIFEBS 



TAXODIUM 983 



surfaces. In autumn they assume a 

 pleasing bronzy - crimson tint which 

 remiains throughout the winter. The 

 variety Lohbi {C. viridis) is more com- 

 pact and less drooping in habit than the 

 type, and has brighter richer green and 

 shorter leaves more closely pressed to the 

 branches. Nana (or pygmcea) is a small 

 stunted bush, seldom attaining a greater 

 height than 2 or 3 feet, and useful for 

 rock gardens. The variety spiralis has a 

 slender habit and sickle-shaped leaves 

 curiously wound round the branchlets. 



Culture and Propagation. — Crypto- 

 merias are practically hardy in most parts 

 of the British Islands, but in some 

 localities the shoots and tops are apt to be 

 injured by severe frosts. As a rule they 

 flourish in light rich loamy soil, with 

 abundance of moisture, and are safest 

 where they are sheltered by other trees. 

 They may be increased by seeds sown in 

 light sandy soil in cold frames when ripe, 

 or by cuttings of the half-ripened shoots 

 in summer in a similar compost protected 

 under a handlight or cold frame and 

 shaded from the sun. 



TAXODIUM. — A genus of hand- 

 some loosely branched trees with spread- 

 ing or drooping branchlets and deciduous 

 or partly persistent more or lesj spirally 

 arranged or 2-raDked leaves. Male 

 flowers in branched catkins ; the female 

 ones 2-3 together near the base of the 

 male branches. Cones hard, round or 

 ovoid, with an uneven surface. Scales 

 spirally imbricated, thick and raised in 

 the centre. Seeds erect, angular with 

 projecting points, wingless. Seed leaves 

 6-9, three-angled. This genus now in- 

 cludes Olyptostrobus, which is distin- 

 guished by having winged and erect seedsN 



'Culture and Propagation. — Taxo- 

 diums flourish under the same conditions 

 as the Cryptomerias, but require more 

 moisture and stand a good deal of frost 

 without injury in sheltered localities. In 

 many places fine healthy specimens may 

 be seen growing in shallow ponds or lakes 

 where a foot or two of water will cover 

 the roots in winter. They may be readily 

 increased by seeds, which should be sown 

 in cold frames as soon as ripe. Cuttings 

 of the young shoots inserted in wet sand, 

 or even in water, will root in a week or 

 two under glass. They must be shaded 

 from strong sunshine and kept close 

 until fairly well rooted. 



T. distichura {T. adscendens ; T. mi- 

 crophyllum; Cupressus disticha). — De- 

 ciduous Cypress. — A beautiful tree, native 

 of the United States, where it forms ex- 

 tensive forests, growing in ' deep submerged 

 swamps, river bottom lands, and pine- 

 barren ponds,' and attains a height of 

 80-150 ft. with a trunk 6-13 ft. in diameter. 

 It has stout stiiT horizontal 'branches 

 ascending at the tips, the side ones more 

 or less drooping, and elegant slender pin- 

 nate branchlets furnished with two rows 

 of flat comb-like horizontally spreading 

 leaves, twisted at the base, and tapering 

 to a sharp point, bright green in summer, 

 changing to a dull red in autumn. They 

 ultimately fall and leave the branches 

 bare during the winter months, hence the 

 popular name. 



There are several varieties of the De- 

 ciduous Cypress, the most important being 

 pendulum or micropkyllum {Glyptostro- 

 hus pendulus), fastigiatum, denudatum, 

 and nanum — the latter forming a compact 

 bush 10-12 ft. high. 



There are some fine specimens of the 

 Deciduous Cypress 80-90 ft. high at Syon 

 House, Isleworth, and Kew Gardens. 

 There is a beautiful specimen of the 

 ya.riety pendulunfi nearly 60 years of age 

 and more than 50 ft. high at Hewell 

 Grange, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the 

 seat of Lord Windsor. 



Culture dc. as above. 



T. heterophyllum {T. sinense ; Glypto- 

 strohus heterophyllus ; O. pensilis), — 

 Embossed Cypress. — A graceful Chinese 

 species with erect stems branching at the 

 tops, and having alternate branchlets 

 covered with variable small more or less 

 ovate scaly or rather long leaves, some- 

 times pressed close to the shoots and 

 decurrent at the base, sometimes two- 

 ranked, regularly twisted, and almost awl- 

 shaped. Cones at the ends of the shoots 

 ovoid or oblong cylindrical. 



Culture and Propagation. — This spe- 

 cies is not much grown, and does not seem 

 to be very hardy north of the Thames. 

 In the most favourable parts of the coun- 

 try it may succeed well. It may be raised 

 from seeds or veneer grafted on stocks of 

 T. distichum in winter under glass. 



T. mucronatum (T. mexicanum; T. 

 Monteziimice) . — Montezum,a Cypress. — 

 This is a native of Mexico, where it forms 

 large forests on the mountains at an 



