^EBTJTUS OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 23 



to 30 feet Mgh. T. orientahs is a native of CMna. In some parts 

 of Central Asia it attains a circumference of 15 feet and a heiglit 



o 



of 36 feet ; introduced in 1762. T, omdentalis is a native 

 of North. America, recorded to have been introduced about the 

 end of the sixteenth century. Thuja as a genus originally con- 

 sisted of other species besides those mentioned, which are now, 

 however, separated under different genera. Of these may be 

 mentioned Thuja ai^ticulata of North Africa, now OalUfris 

 quadrivalvis, Tliuja Utragona and T, chilensis, natives of Cliili, 

 and T. Doniana, native of New Zealand— all large trees, which 

 are now placed in the genus LilocedTiis. {See Sandarach.) 



Arbutus, the name of a genus of trees and shrubs of the 

 Heath family (Ericace^), the greater number of the species are 

 natives of America and widely dispersed, extending from Cali- 

 fornia through Mexico to ChiH, and represented in the eastern 

 hemisphere by A. Unedo and A. andrachne. The first is common 

 in the Canary Islands and Madeira, and is now naturalised in the 

 South of Ireland ; it forms an ornamental shrub in the gardens 

 of this country, well known by the name of Strawberry Tree, 

 its pretty bell -shaped flowers being succeeded by red fruits 

 resembling strawberries, but unpalatable, as indicated by the 

 specific name of " unedo," which means eat one, indicating that 

 one is sufiicient for a man. A, andrachne, a native of the 

 Levant, is similar to the preceding in habit but has broader 

 leaves. During a series of mild winters they form smaU trees, 

 but in severe weather, such as occurred in 1838, all were killed 

 to the ground, but on again breaking forth they became bushy 

 shrubs. A. jprocera, a native of California, is hardy, and forms 

 a very ornamental small tree. As originally characterised by 

 Linnaeus, Arlutus contained two species, native of this country, 

 namely A, alpina and A, Uva-ursi ; they differ from the preced- 

 ing, being smaU-leaved procumbent plants, not exceeding a 

 few inches in height, which, with a slight technical difference 

 in the character of their flowers, has led modern botanists to sepa- 

 rate them as a distinct genus, under the name of Arctosfaphylos. 

 They are natives of the mountains of Scotland. Arlutus 



