188 ANNALS OF THE 
durable, answering well for railway ties, and admirably adapted for ship-building, 
for which purpose it is floated to market dressed on two opposite sides only. It 
also makes first-rate firewood for steamers, and is used extensively as such by those 
plying on our rivers. This tree, when growing singly, forms a beautiful object, its 
slender, pendulous spray adding much to its gracefulness ; it well deserves a place 
in ornamental grounds. 
Thvja occidnnialis (White Cedar ; in Canada erroneously). — It grows in rich, 
moist soils everywhere, and on the banks of rivers, there taking a bowed shape, 
and crowding together, frequently to the exclusion of other trees. The foliage is 
of a dark olive color, becoming foxey in winter. The wood furnishes the best rails 
and posts for fencing, being almost everlasting, except the portion sunk in the 
ground, where it is subject to slow decay. 
Juniperus communis (Juniper). — A recumbent bush spreading on all sides 
from a common centre. Grows along the banks of the St Lawrence on both sides 
from Quebec downwards. On the Plains of Abraham a single specimen is found. 
Upwards it is not met with till we reach the Falls of Chaudiere, in Hull, where a 
few specimens exist. Foliage, light olive ; berries blue, possessing the properties 
of the juniper berries of the North of Europe. 
Juniperus virginiana (Red Cedar). — A small tree growing along the shores of 
'the Upper Lakes. It appears to dread the severe climate of Lower Canada, for, 
with the exception of a few specimens at the Falls of the Chaudiere in Hull, it is 
not found in this section of the province in the shape of a tree ; but a variety with 
a dwarf prostrate habit grows on the rocks on both shores of the St. Lawrence be- 
low Quebec, generally associated with the common juniper ; the deep clothing of 
snow proving a protection to it in the severe winter weather of those localities, and 
in all probability causing its procumbent habit. This variety rises with a single 
stem, but, instead of assuming the shape of a tree, becomes quite prostrate, and is 
blown about in all directions by the wind. The timber of the tree, as growing in 
l^pper Canada, resembles in texture, and has the fragrance of, J. herniudiana^ with 
which lead-pencils are made ; it is light, close-grained, strong, and indestructible : 
possessing these good qualities, it is much used for the ties of railroads. 
Taxus canadensis (Ground Hemlock). — Our yew can scarcely be distinguished 
botanically from the European tree, its decumbent habit constituting the greatest 
difference between them. It grows in rich shady woods, steep banks of rivers, and 
dark ravines throughout the province, forming extensive patches in its fiivorite lo- 
calities. It never rises to the size of a tree like its namesake of Enirland, there- 
fore it is unsuited to the purpose for which our sturdy forefathers used this wood. It 
forms only a prostrate bush, the branches bending upwards. The berries are red, 
like those of the European species, yet I once found in a deep ravine a very marked 
variety bearing white berries, partially translucent. 
