CONIFER.^. 



65 



are flat externally and concave internally ; with a small spine on their 

 apex ; the opposite base pairs small, the upper pairs larger, forming a 

 small cone about half an inch long. Seeds small and two winged, but 

 unequal ; one, two, three, or five seeds may be found under a scale. 



In this Sub-Section we have four real beauties, all so hardy as to 

 enable them to stand the severity of an ordinary English winter, 

 when grown in healthy soils, and in warm or well sheltered situations. 

 The timber they produce is hard, tough, resinous, durable, and fra- 

 grant, yellowish and ruby coloured : but they are of too delicate a 

 constitution to be classed as timber trees for our climate. Beautiful 

 shrubs or small-sized trees with us they are ; but profitable timber trees 

 they never will be. 



LiBOGEDRUS ChILIENSIS: The Chilian. 



A most beautiful tree attaining heights of from fifty to seventy feet 

 in the Andes of Chili : sometimes found branched to its base, at times 

 with a clear straight stem and conical shaped head ; it has rustic, fur- 

 rowed, ashy-brown bark. Young plants or trees of it with us are 

 remarkable for their rich glaucous and silvery-green foliage, and their 

 symmetrical gracefulness. 



There are also two varieties of it worthy of commendation — varie- 

 gata and viridis, the former for its variegated leaves and spray, the 

 latter for its rich green and non-glaucous foliage. 



LiBOGEDRUS DolOBRATA: The Hatchet-Leaved. 



This is a most loveable Fir, and was sent to us from Japan, where it 

 attains heights of from twenty-five to fifty feet, having vertical 

 branches, gracefully drooping at their tips. Its foliage and spray is of 

 the richest glossy-green and shining silvery- white, rendering it a most 

 truly beautiful shrub or small tree. It is tolerably hardy, but a good 

 sweet moist soil, a warm locality, and a well sheltered situation are its 

 indispensables in this country; warmth, humidity, and shade are 

 its likes ; cold, drought, and exposm^e its dislikes : it well deserves 

 a place in every collection of ornamental trees or shrubs where condi- 

 tions necessary to its growth and development can be assigned to it. 



Like most of the Firs and Pines it is of a sportive character ; for we 

 already possess Argentea, (silvery variegated,) Atrovirens^ (dark green- 

 leaved,) Aurea, (golden-variegated,) Glauca, (very glaucous-leaved,) 

 Gracilis^ (slender-branched, and small-leaved variety,) and Nana, (the 

 very dwarf,) all of which are beautiful, and that in the highest degree. 



LiBOGEDEUS DoNIANA: Don's New Zealand Arbor-VitiB. 



In its native habitat attaining heights of from twenty to sixty feet : 



