AEAUCAEIA 



CONIFERS 



SCIADOPITYS 989 



margin. Flowers monoecious ; male ones 

 in grouped catkins about 1 in. long ; 

 females with 3 ovules. Cones round or 

 ovoid, woody. Bracts long, leafy, spread- 

 ing at the points. Seeds winged, drooping. 

 Seed-leaves 2. The variety glauca is 

 distinguished by its glaucous foliage. 



Culture and, Propagation. — Cunning- 

 hamias are too tender for most parts of 

 the British Islands, but in the mildest 

 and most sheltered parts of the south of 

 England and Ireland plants should grow 

 well in light sandy loam with a little peat 

 and leaf soil added. Seeds are the best 

 and surest way to secure new plants, but 

 cuttings of the ripened wood wiU also 

 root in sandy soil under glass, although a 

 fair percentage wiU probably faU. 



ARAUCARIA.— A genus of tall trees 

 with spirally arranged seale-liie leaves, 

 and dioecious or monoecious flowers ; male 

 flowers in spikes. Cones roundish or ovoid, 

 with numerous spiral deciduous scales. 

 Seeds more or less winged, and each 

 more or less united with a scale. 



A. irabricata (A. chilensis). — Monkey 

 Puzzle; ChiliPine. — A well-known prickly 

 leaved Conifer native of S. Chili, where it 

 forms a noble tree 150 ft. high, and is 

 never found more than 2000 ft. below 

 the snowline. The branches radiate in 

 whorls from the main trunk, the lower 

 ones EQore or less drooping and ascending 

 at the ends, the upper ones more or less 

 ascending, all producing two rows of 

 drooping branchlets thickly covered with 

 deep shining green, ovate lance-shaped 

 strong prickly pointed leaves spirally 

 arranged. The large globular cones, 4-6 

 inches in diameter, are usually borne 

 separately on the trees but occasionally 

 with the male flowers also, so that the 

 species must be regarded' both as monoe- 

 cious (male and female flowers on the 

 same tree) and dioecious (on distinct and 

 separate trees). 



Out of 8 or 10 species known this is 

 the only one generally grown out of doors 

 in the British Islands, although A. Cun- 

 nvnghamii, a handsome species from 

 Moreton Bay, is said to be qiiite hardy 

 on the 8.W. coast of England. 



There are many fine specimens of the 

 ChUi Pine in the British Islands ranging 

 between 30 and 50 ft. high, but the 

 largest and finest plant in the kingdom is 

 that at Dropmore gardens, near Maiden- 

 head. It is a male tree now 70 years 



of age, and 70 ft. or more high, with 

 abundant and vigorous growth, and very 

 healthy branches sweeping the ground, 

 the diameter of the whole being about 

 40 ft. The plant enjoys a good depth of 

 soil and perfect drainage with fairly 

 moist surroundings and plenty of shelter 

 from other tall trees. It is occasionally 

 mulched or top-dressed with a little clayey 

 loam. 



Culture and Propagation. — It must 

 be admitted that for one fine specimen 

 there are many miserable-looking ones 

 in all parts of the kingdom, chiefly 

 in bleak exposed spots where they lose 

 their lower branches on the exposed side, 

 and this gives them a straggling and 

 lop-sided appearance the reverse of grace- 

 ful. Sheltered warm situations may 

 therefore be taken as conditions essential 

 for the development of symmetrical 

 specimens of the Chili Pine. Plants are 

 best obtained from seeds, which should 

 be sown in sandy soil in cold Irames 

 as soon as ripe. When the seedlings are 

 about 18 months or two years old they 

 may be safely planted out, having been 

 pricked out in the meantime, to make 

 sturdier growth. 



SCIADOPITYS (Umbrella or Para- 

 sol Pine). — A genus with only one 

 species : — 



S. verticillata. — A beautiful and very 

 distinct Japanese Conifer, having a pyra- 

 midal habit and horizontally spreading 

 branches, and attaining a height of 100 

 to 150 ft. in its native habitats. In the 

 British Islands, however, it only reaches 

 a height of 10-25 ft., but is nevertheless 

 very graceful, although slow growing. 

 The branches are alternate or in whorls 

 from the main upright stem, and bear 

 flat linear blunt deep evergreen stalk] ess 

 leaves (or ' oladodes ') 4-6 in. long, 

 20-30 or more in a whorl radiating up- 

 wards hke the ribs of an umbrella, 

 hence the popular name. Cones eUiptio 

 or cyhndrical, 3-4 in. long, composed of 

 united bracts and scales, each of the latter 

 having 7-9 winged seeds. Seed leaves 2, 

 leafy. 



Culture amd Propagation. — The Um- 

 brella Pine thrives in rich moist loamy 

 soil and wiU stand a fair amount of frost 

 without injury, especially in warm and 

 sheltered localities unaffected by the 

 bitter winds from the north and east. 



It is very rarely that ripe seeds are 



