CONIFEKiE. 



85 



and much disputation amongst botanic pedants, particularly the hair-split- 

 ters; for according to some of them it is a nondescript; while others say- 

 it is Abies Kcmijoferl^ and some that it is neither a Larch nor a Fir, but 

 Pseudo Larix. That Abies, Cedrus, and Larix have more or less 

 specific affinity no sane person disputes ; but as decency and gallantry 

 alike should prompt us to courtesy, I do not insult beauty with such a 

 barbarous appellation as Pseudo Larix Kcemjjferi ! for although the 

 theorists say it is in posse ; I say in esse it is a Larch ; and a lovely 

 one it is ; hence my present address to it is Larix Amabilis. It is a 

 most beautifid and somewhat remarkable tree ; inasmuch as, though 

 like the prototype in its leaves, which are deciduous, single upon the 

 young shoots, and in clusters or bundles on the branches ; yet, they are 

 larger and broader, ranging from one to three inches long, and from one- 

 half to one line broad ; they are likewise more flat and delicate in tex- 

 ture : and in spring and summer are of a pale pea-green, gradually 

 changing, as autumn approaches, to a rich golden-yullow, and as winter 

 advances they drop ofl". The branches are of a pale brown, while the 

 branchlets or young shoots are of a rich yellowish-green, and its trunk 

 of a dark or blackish-brown colour. 



In its general deportment and distinguishing characteristics it is 

 undoubtedly a true Larch Fir, somewhat related to the Cedar in its bark, 

 and to the Silver Fir in its seeds ; while in the formation of its cones it 

 is to a certain extent related to the Spruce Fir ; yet, such nice 

 drawn lines of demarcation and dexterous feats of hair-splitting in the 

 scale of a cone, or in the angularity of a seed, or in the ineffable thickness 

 of the membrane, or in the elongation or rotundation thereof, will never 

 transform a deciduous Larch into an evergreen Cedar, nor a verdant 

 Cedar into a Silver Fir ; much less aU three into one tree to be J^cleped 

 Pseudo Larix. 



In China, its native habitat, it is said to attain heights of from 

 eighty to one hundred and thirty feet, and that its wood is excellent in 

 quality ; but such results will never be obtained by its cultivation in 

 Britain; its utility in our climate and soils wiU only be for ornament; 

 and in every collection where a good healthy moist, rather than too dry 

 soil, a warm locality, and a well sheltered situation, where declivitous 

 rather than flat surfaces can be afforded to it, with shade and a more or 

 less humid atmosphere while in a young state, it would form a most 

 graceful and amiable object in any group, park, or plantation of beau- 

 tiful trees ; but, as I have indicated, the very best soils and warmest 

 localities in Albion's Isle are indispensable to its growth, for it is more 



