Plant Material 
Narrow Leaved Evergreens 
(Trees and shrubs with leaves which are needle-like or awl-shaped or 
scale-like, often overlapping and appressed, i. e., lying 
close together.) 
Evergreens are one of our most important materials for 
landscape work and while there are many which have broad ^sTvrrow 
leaves (such as Mountain Laurel, Rhododendron, Boxwood, l BA ved 
Holly, etc.), in this article the term "Evergreens" shall be used j] VER _ 
to mean only the narrow leaved varieties. Such plants bear GREENS 
fruits which are either true cones as in Pines and Spruces, or 
are modified cones as in Red Cedar and Yew. In these latter 
cases the fruits are so modified as to appear berry-like. The list 
given and the observations made are not intended for the expert, 
but it is hoped that these comments may stimulate an interest 
in the less known varieties which are hardy and obtainable, as 
well as the more common kinds. It is certainly lacking in 
imagination and intelligence to plant an over used "Blue 
Spruce" and Arborvitae when there are so many more suitable 
and interesting forms of Evergreens if one did but know them. 
A catalog and a visit to a good nursery will be found very 
helpful to a beginner. Evergreens can be studied at any season 
of the year. Then proceed to check up the varieties seen in a 
good tree book — Sargent 's ' ' Manual of Trees of North America, ' ' 
the new edition; "The Tree Book" by Julia E. Rogers; or, for 
more profound reference in libraries, Bailey's "Cyclopedia of 
Horticulture," (new 6-vol. edition) ; Sargent's "Sylva of North 
America ; ' ' and ' ' Trees of Great Britain,.' ' by Elwes and Henry. 
It is worth noting that very often the trade, name differs 
from the scientific name. For instance we are all familiar with 
the term "Retinispora" (often wrongly spelled "Retinospora") 
Retinispora is the trade name first given to varieties of Cypress 
(Chamaecyparis) from Japan, but now it also includes juvenile 
(i. e. young) foliage forms of our native Coast "White Cedar 
(Chamaecyparis thuy aides) and of the native Arborvitae, 
(Thuya occidentalis) and of the oriental Arborvitae (Thuya 
orient alis) . The Japanese Retinisporas all originated from two 
species of Japanese Cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa and Cham- 
aecyparis pisifera and these original types, as well as their 
varieties, are called Retinispora in the trade. Each of these 
original types has the foliage arranged in a flat spray (like 
Thuya, the Arborvitae) and leaves close together densely cloth- 
ing the branchlets. Retinispora Chamaecyparis obtusa has 
small, blunt, scale-like leaves marked with white "Y" shaped 
lines beneath. Retinispora Chamaecyparis pisifera has small, 
acicular (i. e. awl-shaped) leaves which are pointed and spread- 
ing at the tip. Their varieties, which were the first to be intro- 
duced from Japan as Retinispora were probably all produced by 
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