864 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The rich forest flora of Japan contains several Birches and Hornbeams, 

 some of interest, notably Bctula Maximoiviczii and Carpinus cordata, 

 both finer representatives of their genera than are usually cultivated. 



Betula Maximoiviczii is at its best in Yezo, where it forms handsome 

 trees eighty to ninety feet in height, noticeable for their smooth orange - 

 coloured bark and large leaves, larger than those of any other species. I have 

 had a tree under observation for several years in this country, and am 

 inclined to think, if it does not actually attain the noble proportions 

 characteristic of this fine Birch in its native home, it will prove better than 

 anything we yet possess. 



Betula Ermani and our own Betula alba are amongst the best known 

 of several other Birches found in Japan. 



What Betula Maximoiviczii is to the Birches Carpinus cordata is to 

 the Hornbeams, beyond question the most beautiful and boldest of the 

 family. In its native forests and in this country its leaves are six to seven 

 inches in length and three to four broad, the catkins five to six inches long 

 and very beautiful in their autumn colouring. Though in England I 

 know of no tree of a greater height at present than 14 feet, in Japan a 

 height of 30 to 40 feet is not uncommon. 



Carpinus laxiflora and Carpinus Carpinus are graceful trees, but will 

 not compare from an ornamental standpoint with Carpinus cordata. 



The Japanese forests are rich in Oaks, which in this country have not 

 received the attention they deserve. That they will flourish, whether 

 evergreen or deciduous, may be seen from photographs of two species in 

 the Hall, of trees 20 feet and 25 feet high. 



Quercus dentata, remarkable for its giant leaves on young vigorous 

 growth ten to twelve inches in length and six to eight inches in width, has 

 not been so successfully cultivated as one would wish, though the Dutch 

 have obtained fair results. In the neighbourhood of Sapporo fine specimens 

 70 to 80 feet high are not uncommon, but unless our planters have greater 

 good fortune than has hitherto attended their efforts, we shall never see in 

 this country in anything like beauty one of the noblest of the Far Eastern 

 forest trees. 



Quercus serrata is a good tree— interesting from the fact that the 

 Japanese feed silkworms on its foliage. The leaves bear a strong resem- 

 blance to those of the Sweet Chestnut, and in England are semi-deciduous. 

 Widely distributed in Japan, it grows here with vigour. 



It is, however, amongst the Evergreen Oaks we may look for the greatest 

 additions to our gardens. Highly prized by the Japanese, they are largely 

 planted in gardens and round temples, and in large centres are amongst 

 the commonest trees. 



Quercus cuspid ata and Quercus glauca are both under cultivation, a 

 variegated form of the first-named having met with some attention. 

 Quercus acuta is, however, the species which seems most at home in this 

 climate, and forms a stately column of lustrous dark green, twenty feet in 

 height. It is a noble tree for which we are indebted to Maries. The 

 Japanese call it the Red Oak, from the redness of its wood, which deepens 

 often to a reddish-brown. 



Though in actual size of flower China and Japan have sent us no 

 Magnolia to compare with the American Magnolia macrophylla, no one 



