December, 191 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



147 



Picea omorika grows rapidly. Its leaves are flat, of 

 lustrous green above and white beneath 



The Japanese Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata) 

 with dark, glossy leaves, has a narrow, plume-like crown 



Tsuga caroliniana, the Carolina Hemlock, was introduced 

 to the Arboretum in 1881, and grows freely in that climate 



The yew par excellence for New England gardens is the Jap- 

 anese Yew (Taxus cuspidata), with blackish green foliage 



Firs are very similar being narrow conical in out- 

 line with rigid, horizontally spreading pointed 

 branches and leaves dark glossy green above and 

 silvery white beneath. 



Another Fir which thrives very well here is 

 Veitch's (A. Veitchii), native of the mountains of 

 central Japan. In a wild state this is a slender 

 tree seldom exceeding 75 feet in height, with thin, 

 short, spreading branches which form a narrow 

 crown. In cultivation the branches are longer than 

 in the wild trees and often slightly ascending. 

 The leaves are soft to the touch, dark green above 

 and silvery below. 



The Firs delight in a cool soil and climate, but 

 some, like A. concolor, are not exacting and with- 

 stand drought and dry situations very well. All 

 are impatient of smoke and soot and for this reason 

 do not thrive in cities or near manufacturing centres. 

 These remarks apply also to the Spruces, although 

 they are slightly less exacting in these matters. 



The Douglas Fir 



The Douglas Fir {Pseudotsnga taxifolia) is one 

 of the loftiest and most valuable of all coniferous 

 trees and, from a horticultural viewpoint, one of the 

 most indispensable. It has an immense range of 

 distribution in the western parts of North America 

 and attains its maximum development in the wet 

 regions bordering the Puget Sound and on the 

 western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, where trees 

 300 feet tall with trunks 9 to 12 feet in diameter 

 occur. This tree was discovered on the shores of 

 the Nootka Sound by Archibald Menzies in 1792, 

 during Vancouver's voyage round the world, was 

 re-discovered by David Douglas in 1827, and intro- 

 duced to England by him the following year. In 

 the mild, moist climate of Great Britain, this tree 

 of the Pacific slope soon made itself at home and 

 in most parts of that land it grows rapidly. From 

 Britain it was introduced to eastern North Amer- 

 ica, but in the colder parts of this country it proved 

 to be not hardy. In 1862, it was most fortunately 

 discovered at high elevations in Colorado, and 

 seeds from this source 

 have given us a race of 

 perfectly hardy and 

 quick-growing trees. In 

 the Arnold Arboretum 

 trees forty years of age 

 are 50 feet and more tall, 

 and others about fifteen 

 years old are 1 8 to 2 5 feet 

 tall. The lower branches 

 of these trees sweep the 

 ground and the others 

 are inclined upwardsand 

 have a plume-like ap- 

 pearance. The leaves 

 vary from dark green to 

 glaucous. 



The uninitiated may 

 distinguish this tree from 

 all other Conifers by 

 its relatively long, coni- 

 cal, sharp-pointed win- 

 ter buds. Either as a 

 lawn tree, or for avenues, 

 or for massing, Douglas' 

 Fir is equally valuable 

 and it needs no recom- 

 mendation. 



The Spruces 



Perhaps no Conifer 

 has been received into 



popular favor more readily than the Colorado Blue 

 Spruce {Picea pungens) , and certainly none has been 

 more extensively planted. Lately there has been 

 some outcry against it, but as a young tree it is un- 

 deniably beautiful. It has taken very kindly to 

 cultivation and is very hardy. One cannot object to 

 it on the lawns of suburban gardens or even on 

 those of country estates; but the indiscriminate 

 manner in which it has been planted by the carload 

 in groups and rows on large estates is certainly an 

 offense against good taste. This Blue Spruce 

 grows fairly rapidly and when young is compact, 

 symmetrical and handsome; but at an early age it 

 loses its lower branches and later becomes un- 

 sightly. In the Arnold Arboretum there is growing 

 a tree raised from seeds collected by Dr. Parry when 

 he discovered this Spruce in 1862. This example 

 has lost all its lower limbs and has now only a cluster 

 of branches near the top and is very far from being 

 an object of beauty. Authorities who have seen 

 this Blue Spruce growing wild near the banks of 

 streams in Colorado tell us that it naturally be- 

 haves in this manner. Those contemplating 



On the left is a specimen of Retinispora and in the middle a Mugho Pine, an excellent 

 combination for color effect 



