1006 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



LARIX 



winter sleep, the branches quickly burst 

 forth into leaf In early spring, and are 

 often injured by the frosts at that period. 

 Of late years plantations of Larches have 

 suffered a good deal from the ravages of a 

 disease or canker due to the parasitism of 

 a minute fungus called Peziza Willkomrrd, 

 which spreads rapidly once it has taken a 

 hold. Too much moisture, bad drainage, 

 and spring frosts render the trees more 

 liable to attack, and favour the growth 

 of the fungus. There are several varieties 

 of the Common Larch, penchila with a 

 drooping habit being best known. The 

 variety sihirica seems to have «, more 

 robust constitution than the ordinary 

 variety. 



L. leptolepis {L.japonica; Abies lepto- 

 lepis). — A beautiful Japanese Larch, about 

 40 ft. high but often becoming a mere 

 shrub about 2 ft. high at great elevations 

 on the Japanese mountains. The smooth 

 round branches radiate regularly from the 

 trunk, and have slender drooping twigs 

 clothed with blunt linear leaves f-lj in. 

 long. Cones bluntly ovoid rounded, with 

 numerous thin flat greyish-brown scales. 

 The seeds are shed naturally, but the 

 cones remain on the trees for years. 



In its young state this Larch is very 

 beautifal, and there is some doubt as to 

 whether it is not reaUy a form of the 

 Golden Larch — Pseudolarix Kcempferi. 

 The specimens of both are stiU few and 

 far between. 



Culture dc. as above. 



L. occidentalis (L. americana hrevifo- 

 Ua ; Pinus Nuttalli). — A noble pyramidal 

 tree, native of N.W. America, where on 

 the moist mountain slopes at an elevation 

 between 2500 and 5000 ft. it reaches a 

 height of 100-150 ft. with a trunk 3-5 ft. 

 in diameter, and is known as the ' Great 

 "Western Larch.' The lower branches are 

 horizontal and slightly decumbent, the 

 upper ones ascending. The leaves are 

 produced in bundles or clusters of 14-20, 

 erectly spreading, stiff, linear, pale green, 

 ^f in. long. The soUtary erect ovoid 

 elliptic cones are 1-1| in. long, with 

 roundish loosely imbricated scales, cover- 

 ing a smaller bract with a long protruding 

 awl-shaped point. 



The bark of young trees ia thin, scaly, 

 dark grey or brown, changing to bright 

 cinnamon-red when old. 



Culture dc. as above. 



L. pendula (L. americana ; Pvnua mi- 

 crocarpa ; P. pendula ko.),—Ameriea/n 

 BlacTc Larch, Ta/ma/racli, oi Hachmata^Jc, 

 A slender, graceful tree native of the 

 United States, where in moist uplands or 

 cold wet swamps it reaches a height of 

 80-100 ft., with a trunk 2-3 ft. in diameter. 

 Its branches spread horizontally, and the 

 twigs are clothed with shorter and more 

 slender leaves than those of the Common 

 Larch, and the brownish ovoid cones are 

 about 1 in. long. 



Culture dc. as above. 



CONIFERS USEFUL FOE VARIOUS PURPOSES 



As it would no doubt be found imprac- 

 ticable in most cases, even in the largest 

 gardens, to grow anything hke the number 

 of Conifers described in the foregoing 

 pages, the following list of the best species 

 selected for various purposes may be found 

 useful. The numbers after the names 

 indicate the pages at which the plant will 

 be found described. 



I. A select list of the best Conifers for 

 parks, large gardens, and pleasure 

 grov/nds 

 Abies amabilis, p. 1001. 

 „ brachyphylla, p. 1002. 

 „ ceph^onica, p. 1002. 

 „ concolor, p. 1002. 

 „ grandis, p. 1003. 

 „ lowiaua, p. 1003. 

 „ magnifica, p. 1003. 

 „ nobilis, p. 1003. 

 „ nordmanniana, p. 1004. 

 „ numidica, p. 1004. 

 „ pectinata, p. 1004. 

 „ Pinsapo, p. 1004. 

 „ webbiana, p. 1005. 

 Araucaria imbrioata, p. 989. 

 Cedrus atlantica, p. 995. 



„ „ glauca, p. 995. 



„ Deodara, p. 995. 

 „ Libani, p. 996. 

 Cryptomeria japonica, p. 982. 



„ „ elegans, p. 982. 



Cupressus Lawsoniana, and vars., p. 978. 

 „ maorocarpa, p. 979. 

 „ nootkatensis; p. 979. 

 „ obtusa, and vars., p. 979. 

 „ pisifera, and vars., p. 979. 

 „ thyoides, p. 980. 

 Ginkgo biloba, p. 987. 

 Juniperus chinensis, and vars., p. 980. 

 „ Oxyoedrus, p. 981. 

 „ recurva, p. 981. 

 „ virginiana, and vars., p. 982. 



