(16) 



construction purposes in Japan, and the trees themselves are ex- 

 tensively cultivated for ornamental purposes. They are the favo- 

 rites of the Japanese gardeners for pot culture and are dwarfed 

 and trained into many kinds of fanciful shapes. These gardeners 

 graft this pine and others on the stock of the Japanese Black-Pine, 

 P. Thunbergii (p. 28), which tree we shall see later. This opera- 

 tion of grafting a soft on a hard pine is, as a rule, unsuccessful. 

 But in the hands of those skilled workers the natural incompata- 

 hility is partially overcome and the stunting results in the odd 

 forms we recognize as Japanese. 



This species, though it grows wild in Japan, seems to have been 

 named a variety, var. pentaphylla, of the tree which is much culti- 

 vated in Japan, P. parviflora. This apparent departure from the 

 usual practice in horticulture according to which varieties are 

 generally named as forms of the wild type probably arose from the 

 fact that the cultivated form might have been known and studied 

 before its wild form was described. 



Leaving, now, our position on the rocks, we shall walk through 

 the group toward the evergreens farther ahead. Just beyond the 

 last Macedonian Pine we pass a splendid black gum tree, leafless 

 in winter, which in its beautiful autumnal coloration is one of the 

 choicest sights in the Garden. To the left are a few elm trees. 

 Just beyond and to the right of the black gum stands our next 

 evergreen, one of open formation and very different habit from 

 the close growth of the Stone Pines and Macedonian Pines. Its 

 leaves are slender, quite long, grayish or bluish green and droop 

 pronouncedly. Right ahead of us in a diagonal line with it are 

 two others. These trees are 



Pinus nepalensis, or P. excelsa, the Himalayan White-Pine 



This tree is native to the temperate Himalayan region at eleva- 

 tions ranging from 6,000 to 12,500 feet between Nepal on the 

 east and Afghanistan on the west. In its native habitat it attains 

 a height of 50 to 150 feet and is one of the important timber trees, 

 furnishing lumber for a great variety of purposes. Its fairly hard 

 and durable wood works and finishes well. First class rosin and 

 turpentine are obtained by distillation of the resin secured by 



