— 6 — 
The important conifers of the Caucasus, Abies Nordmanniana and 
Picea orientalis, are hardy here and the latter is a valuable ornamental 
tree not unlike in general appearance the Red Spruce, Picea rubra, of 
northeastern North America which grows very slowly and does not take 
kindly to cultivation. The Spruce, Picea Schrenkiana, which covers 
with a stunted forest the dry slopes of the mountains of central Asia, is 
hardy and healthy in the Arboretum, but it will probably never become 
an important ornamental tree. A more desirable tree here is the Spruce 
of central Siberia, Picea obovata, which is well established in the Arbor- 
etum where it already produces its cones. 
All the Larches now known, with the exception of the Himalayan spe- 
cies, are growing in the Arboretum, including an interesting hybrid be- 
tween the European and the Japanese species lately produced in Scot- 
land. As an ornamental tree the eastern North American Larix ameri- 
cana is the most picturesque of all the Larches. The Japanese Larix 
Kaempferi or leptolepis grows the most rapidly. The largest of the ge- 
nus is the western American Larix occidentals, and the least known are 
Larix chinensis and Larix Potanini. Larix siberica from eastern Si- 
beria and the Altai and Larix dahurica from eastern Siberia are still 
little known in this country. The Larches are at the western end of the 
Pine turn just above the Walter Street entrance. Near them is a group 
of Larch-like trees, Pseudolarix Kaempferi, a Chinese tree with the 
deciduous leaves of a true Larch and erect cones which fall apart when 
ripe like those of the Cedars. This interesting, beautiful and hardy tree 
which for many years was only known in temple gardens, has now been 
found growing abundantly on the mountains near Ningpo in southern 
China. 
It is impossible in the space of one of these bulletins to do more than 
briefly mention the most important conifers in the Arboretum, where 
there are now growing all the species with their numerous varieties which 
it is possible to keep alive here. The world has been pretty thoroughly 
explored for coniferous plants and the only place left where new trees 
of this class are likely to occur is western China. On the high mountains 
which form the Chinese-Tibetan boundary in addition to Firs, Hemlocks 
and Larches there appear to be more species of Spruce than in all the 
rest of the world. Seeds of all, or nearly all, of these trees have been 
obtained by the Arboretum, and the seedlings raised from them are now 
growing here and, through the agency of the Arboretum, in several 
American and European gardens. 
The Taxus Family, Taxaceae, is now usually separated from the Coni- 
ferae although the Yews and their allies are generally spoken of as 
conifers. The most important of this group is, of course, Ginkgo biloba, 
the last survivor of an ancient race once widespread over the northern 
hemisphere and now known only from the plants cultivated in Chinese 
and Japanese gardens and their descendants. This tree is very hardy; 
it grows rapidly; it lives to a great age; and at maturity it becomes very 
