32 Ornamental Foreign Shrubs. 



Nearly everyone is familiar with the 'Norfolk island pine' 

 which is Araucaria excelsa. This variety is quite sensitive to 

 frost and is therefore not seen growing so well in Northern Cal- 

 ifornia. It also requires more room to spread, needing fully fifty 

 feet of ground for perfect growth. Araucaria Bidwellii is a very 

 beautiful sort and is a strong contrast to Araucaria excelsa. It 

 has a dark, dense foliage, formidable indeed if you dare approach, 

 intended by nature to fight well against the mutilations of the 

 pruner. 



Araucaria Bidwellii will grow absolutely perfect if let alone, a 

 fine example of such treatment being in the plant at the old 

 Cowles place, El Cajon — twenty-five feet high — a veritable monu- 

 ment to its planters. It has not a scar, uot a limb gone. A tree 

 of this species bore last year thirteen cones, each weighing from 

 five to seven pounds, but none of the seed ripened. 



Araucaria imbricata is the most striking and singular, the 

 rarest and most expensive of all the species. It, as well as A. 

 Bidwellii, is sometimes called the 'monkey tree,' as they are said 

 to be the only trees a monkey cannot climb. This species branches 

 symmetrically, but the leaves are like small scaly spines set close 

 on the limb, making the tree appear as though it we're without 

 foliage. There is but one plant in San Diego (to my knowledge) 

 large enough to show its characteristics. This plant, which is at 

 the northeast corner of Fourth and Maple, now about two and 

 one-half feet high, will in five years stand six to seven feet high, 

 and at that hight could not be replaced for less than $50. The 

 finest specimens in the state are at San Francisco and Oakland 

 and should be examined by everyone interested in choice plants, 

 as the beauty is developed with age, and no idea can be formed 

 from a small plant. It will grow from fifty to one hundred feet 

 high and is a native of Chile. 



Araucaria Brasiliensis, from Brazil, is represented by two 

 plants in San Diego. With age this variety drops its lower 

 branches, leaving a bare trunk. 



A. excelsa, $1.50 to $3 each. 



A. Bidwelli, $4 each. 



Whatever is worth growing at all is worth growing well. 

 Love a flower in advance and plant something every year. 



