BACCIFER^. 



151 



deposits, it attains heights of from forty to eighty feet, with trunk 

 circumferences of from six to twelve feet. It is tolerably hardy, but 

 somewhat fastidious as to soil and situation in our soils and climate. 

 It leaves are disposed in threes, or in opposite pairs, some acute, some 

 blunt-pointed ; generally spreading on young growths ; while they are 

 more or less imbricated and four-rowed when matured, or upon old 

 branches ; branches numerous and compact. Its berries are rounded, 

 smooth, two-lobed, about the size of a pea, and purplish in colour. 

 Generally one or two seeds are in each- fruit, which are dry, but very 

 resinous, strongly aromatic, and highly pungent, and somewhat nauseous 

 in flavour. The male and female organs are generally on separate, yet, 

 exceptionally found on the same plant. 



JUNIPERUS SabiNA: The Savin or Brathy Juniper. 



This is the representative or prototype of our third, or Sahinoides 

 section, the Sahina Altera Cupressoides of the ancients. It, in some 

 one or other of its many forms, is to be found in many countries in a 

 natural, and in most parts of the world in a cultivated state. Its 

 leaves are variously formed, some being scale-like, some needle-like, 

 some awl-shaped, and others rounded ; some, again, are very sharp- 

 pointed, while others are blunt-pointed; some spreading and some 

 imbricated, some bright, while others are dark or dull green ; some 

 yellowish-white, others are bluish-green ; some smooth and shining, 

 while others are glaucous or pow^dery. Its berries are blackish- 

 purple or dark violet, in colour ; some smooth and shining, some 

 glaucous or powdery ; all of them small, round, or oval ; about 

 the size of small-fruited currants ; and generally one-seeded. Its 

 branches are spreading, dense, much ramified, and abundantly furnished 

 with short, straight, tufted branchlets ; which are well clothed with 

 foliage. It forms a dense-branched, spreading bush, from one to 

 two yards high ; growing freely in almost any kind of soil, if in a 

 healthy condition, and luxuriates in rocky debris, and is very much 

 accelerated in its growth by lime, brick, or other hard, stony, or earthy 

 rubbish ; wine-lees, or kitchen or laundry wash or slops in a diluted 

 state : it seems to relish a slightly brackish, or soapy food and drink. 

 Found in a natural state in most parts of Southern Europe, also on 

 the Alps, Appennines, and Pyrenees; and more or less jDlentiful in 

 Lombardy, Greece, Spain, and Tauriaj and thoroughly hardy, though 

 of very slow growth. Its most striking forms or varieties are : — Nana, 

 (the dwarf,) Frostrata, (the creeping,) Tamariscifolia, (the Sahina Altera 

 Tamariscoides of the ancients,) and Tamariscifolia Variegata, (the 



