984 



PBAGTIGAL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS sequoia 



elevation of 5000-8000 ft., and in the 

 city of Mexico itself are to be found 

 ' enormous and grand trees ' over 120 ft. 

 high. Botanically it is probably only a 

 geographical form of the Deciduous 

 Cypress (T. distichum), which it much 

 resembles in habit and growth. It is too 

 tender for any except the mildest and 

 most sheltered parts of the British 

 Islands. 



Culture dc. as above. 



SEQUOIA. — A genus containing two 

 species of gigantic evergreen much- 

 branched trees with alternate spirally 

 arranged leaves, often almost lance-shaped 

 and distichously spreading in S. semper- 

 virens, often shorter and blunter in S. gi- 

 gantea. Flowers monoecious, male flowers 

 in stalked oblong or globose heads at the 

 ends of the branches. Cones ^--2 in. long, 

 ovoid or oblong, woody. Seeds 4r-9, 

 winged. 



Culture and Propagation. — Sequoias 

 flourish in hght loamy soil in most parts 

 of the British Islands, although in some 

 localities they prove more or less unsatis- 

 factory from an ornamental point of view, 

 especially when fullj? exposed to keen 

 biting winds from the north and east. 

 The finest specimens are undoubtedly 

 those growing with and sheltered by other 

 large trees. 



When seeds can be obtained, Sequoias 

 are best increased by their means. Cut- 

 tings of the ripened shoots inserted in 

 sandy soil in autumn under a handlight 

 or cold frame will root fairly well if 

 shaded from bright sunshine and kept 

 rather close and moist. When rooted 

 more air and light may be given on all 

 favourable occasions. The variegated 

 forms are usually grafted under glass on 

 stocks of the common form. 



S. gigantea {WelUngtonia gigantea; 

 Washingtonia GaUfornica). — Mammoth 

 Tree. — A tall and stately Conifer with 

 much-divided horizontal branches, and 

 cylindrical, often drooping branchlets, 

 thickly covered with spreading needle- 

 shaped spirally arranged leaves, varying a 

 good deal in the young and old branches. 

 Cones sohtary on the ends of the branch- 

 lets, about 2 in. long, egg-shaped. 



There are several garden varieties, the 

 best being pendula, which has regular 

 drooping branches producing an elegant 



cone-like tree. The variety aurea has 

 the smaller branchlets tinged with yeUow, 

 and when in good condition is rather 

 pretty. 



Pages of print have been written in 

 all kinds of publications about this species, 

 which forms one of the largest trees in the 

 world. It is a native of California, where 

 on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada 

 it reaches a height of 250-400 ft., with a 

 trunk 20-40 ft. in diameter. The largest 

 trees in the British Islands are not more 

 than 80 or 90 ft. high, and they are very 

 few and far between. Specimens between 

 30-50 ft., however, are fairly common, and 

 there is scarcely a garden of any pretension 

 that does not contain at least one ' Mam- 

 moth tree.' Seedling plants were first 

 distributed about the time of the Crimean 

 War (1854-55), so that the largest trees in 

 the country are still a few years short of 

 being half a century old, and may be re- 

 garded as fairly quick growers. The great 

 height of the Sequoia is only exceeded 

 by that of the Gum trees (Eucalyptus) of 

 Australia, some of which are 450 ft. high. 



Culture dc. as above. 



S. sempervirens {Taxodium semper- 

 virens). — CaUfornian Bedwood. — ^A large 

 Californian tree often 200-300 ft. high in 

 a wild state, with a trunk 8-23 ft. in 

 diameter,' sending up from the stump when 

 cut down many vigorous shoots. According 

 to Professor Sargent, it is found chiefly on 

 the sides of canons and gulches in low 

 wet situations, borders of streams &c., not 

 appearing on dry hillsides. It has hori- 

 zontally spreading branches and numer- 

 ous branchlets, frequently drooping and 

 covered with blunt linear flat shining 

 leaves i-1 in. long, in two rows ; they 

 assume a purple-brown tint in winter, and 

 often remain a long time or at least imtil 

 the new leaves have been well developed. 

 Cones egg-shaped, about 1 in. long. 



There are only a few varieties of the 

 Redwood, the chief being albo-spica, in 

 which the tips of the young shoots are of 

 a creamy white colom- ; glauca, with 

 glaucous-blue leaves on branchlets, much 

 narrower and more slender than in the 

 type; and taxifolia, which scarcely differs 

 from the type except in its slightly 

 broader leaves. At Bocoimoo in Cornwall 

 there is a specimen of the Redwood about 

 50 years old and nearly 80 ft. high, with 

 a girth of over 13 ft. breast-high. 



Culture <ic. as above. 



