358 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



Megans has soft, sharply-pointed, spreading leaves, 

 which are hright green during the growing season, 

 but towards the end of autumn assume a bronzy - 

 crimson colour ; this, in comparison with the type, is 

 a small tree. Ordinary C. Japonica, in its native 

 country, attains a height of 150 or 200 feet. The 

 Cryptomerias require a sheltered position, and thrive 

 best in moist, deep, rich ground. 



Cupressus {Cypress).— There are about a dozen 

 species of true Cypresses, natives of the Mediterra- 

 nean region, temperate Asia, and North America. 

 It is only in the South of England that any of the 

 Cypresses can be fairly depended on; the species 

 here mentioned are probably the hardiest and most 

 desirable. 



C. macrocarpa, the Monterey Cypress, in its Cali- 

 fornian home attains a height of from 40 to 70 

 feet. The largest measurement of a specimen of this 

 species is recorded by Brewer, one of the authors of 

 the " Botany of California ; " this had a circumference 

 of trunk 18| feet, at a height of five or six feet from 

 the ground. Under cultivation, the Monterey 

 Cypress is variable in habit, but may be readily dis- 

 tinguished from other Cypresses by the very bright 

 green of the foliage. It is, moreover, a fast-growing 

 tree, and a very useful one for the purpose of the 

 landscape gardener in the South and "West of Eng- 

 land. 



C. sempervirens, a native of South Europe, Asia 

 Minor, &c, is generally a tall, tapering flame-shaped 

 tree under cultivation ; the variety horizontalis only 

 differs in having its branches spreading instead of 

 erect. For a resume of what is known respecting 

 this very interesting tree, and for information re- 

 specting famous historical specimens, the reader is 

 referred to Veitch's " Manual of the Conifera?." 



C. torulosa, from the North-western Himalayas, is 

 a tall, fastigiate tree, with glaucous imbricated 

 leaves ; although in sheltered spots this makes a fine 

 object, it is inferior from a garden point of view to 

 the two species above-mentioned. 



Ginkgo biloba, or Salisburia adiantifolia, the 

 Maidenhair Tree, is totally dissimilar in aspect to any 

 other Conifer. It has drupaceous fruits somewhat like 

 those of the common Yew ; indeed, it is more nearly 

 related to Taxus than to any other member of the 

 Coniferous family which thrives in the open air in 

 Britain. It is a native of Northern China, whence 

 it was introduced to this country" about 1754. Good 

 specimens exist in the neighbourhood of London, 

 which have withstood all weathers for a considerable 

 period without injury. The large fan-shaped leaves 

 are much like the pinnules of an Adiantwn on a 

 large scale. It is probable that this peculiar and 



handsome tree is not to be thoroughly depended on 

 as hardy except in the southern and western parts of 

 the country. 



Juniperus. — Of this genus there are about 

 twenty - five species, which are confined to the 

 Northern Hemisphere, and principally to the colder 

 and mountainous regions. One of the best known is 

 J. communis, which has a very extended geographical 

 distribution, and is not uncommon on open hill-sides 

 in Britain. It varies much in habit and other 

 characters — the form found wild in Britain has 

 spreading, straight, pungent, glaucous leaves, and 

 rarely attains a height of from ten to twenty feet ; 

 usually it occurs as a bush from two to six feet high. 

 Mibernica, the Irish Juniper, has shorter, deeper 

 green leaves, and erect branches with numerous, 

 rigid, close-set branchlets ; in habit this is columnar 

 rather than pyramidal. Nana is a mountain form of 

 dwarf habit, with shorter, broader, imbricate, in- 

 curved leaves. Suecica, the Swedish Juniper, some- 

 what resembles Sibernica, but differs in its lighter 

 green, more glaucous foliage. 



J. drupacea, a native of Asia Minor, is a handsome 

 and distinct plant, with light green pointed leaves, 

 which are broader and stouter than those of an- 

 other hardy Juniper; it is remarkable, too, for the 

 large size and deep purple colour of its fruits. Under 

 the most favourable conditions it attains a height of 

 five-and-twenty feet. 



/. recurva, a Himalayan species, ranges in height 

 from a few feet to ten yards ; it is easily distin- 

 guished by its recurved, pendulous, feathery branch- 

 lets, clothed with loosely imbricated pointed leaves 

 of a greyish-green colour. 



/. Sabina, the common Savin, is a native of the 

 mountainous districts of Southern Europe. It is a 

 dwarf bush of spreading irregular habit, with small 

 scale-like imbricated leaves. Tamariscifolia is a form 

 of trailing habit with foliage of a brighter green 

 than the type ; variegata only differs from the 

 common Savin in having some of the branchlets a 

 creamy -white colour. All are useful rockery plants, 

 or for planting in the front of the shrubbery border ; 

 they are readily propagated from cuttings. 



J. rirginiana, the Red Cedar, is a very variable 

 species, and one of the most ornamental ones. It is 

 the most widely distributed and one of the most 

 valuable of North American Conifers ; the compact, 

 aromatic, close-grained, red heart-wood is largely 

 employed for cabinet-making and for pencils, &c. 

 In its native habitats it sometimes reaches eighty 

 feet in height, but in Britain rarely exceeds half 

 that size. Amongst the best and most distinct of 

 the numerous forms are the following : — Bedfordiana 

 has filiform pendulous branchlets, and foliage of a 



