BULLETIN NO. 36. 
The Arboretum is asked for information about dwarf conifers. In 
many genera of conifers dwarf individuals, which are seminal or rarely 
bud-variation forms, have appeared and have been multiplied by nur- 
serymen and others interested in the cultivation of such plants, the 
largest number of such abnormal forms being found naturally among 
the seedlings of species which have been the most largely cultivated. 
The seedlings of no other conifer, perhaps, show so great variation as 
those of the Arborvitae of the eastern United States, Thuya occident- 
alis. Some of these forms are very dwarf, forming round compact 
heads only a foot or two high; others grow into large globular masses; 
others are narrow pyramids, and some have pendulous branches. They 
vary, too, in the color of the foliage, that of some forms being of 
different shades of green, and that of others yellow. Like many other 
dwarf conifers, several of these forms are well suited for the decora- 
tion of the rock garden and for dwarf hedges or small beds. The col- 
lection of the forms of Thuya occidentalis in the Arboretum is proba- 
bly one of the largest in existence and contains many interesting spec- 
imens. It is established on Yew Path leading from the Valley Road 
to the Hemlock Hill Road, and adjoining the Arborvitses is the collec- 
tion of Chamaecyparis or White Cedars. The species of this genus from 
the Pacific Coast are not hardy in New England, so it is not possible 
to grow here various dwarf forms of C. Lawsoniana which are common 
in European collections. Of the Japanese species, often called Retinos- 
poras, there are several dwarf forms, the most beautiful of these per- 
haps being the variety nana of C. obtusa. For those who admire plants 
with colored foliage C. pisifera argentea is an attractive small plant. 
Of the White Cedar of the eastern United States (C. thyoides) there 
are a few interesting dwarf forms. The most conspicuous of these is 
probably the variety ericoides , of dwarf, compact, pyramidal habit, 
with leaves which as well as the branches, turn reddish brown with 
the first cold weather and retain this color until spring. Another in- 
teresting form is the variety leptoclada, also of dwarf habit and blu- 
ish green color. 
One of the most valuable of all the dwarf evergreens is that variety 
of the Japanese Yew ( Taxus cuspidata ) which is now cultivated in 
American gardens as variety brevifolia, but is not to be confounded 
with Taxus brevifolia , which is a California tree. This variety of the 
Japanese Yew has very dark green leaves and wide-spreading, rather 
irregularly growing branches; it attains a height of only four or five 
feet but sometimes covers a space ten or fifteen feet in diameter. 
Seedlings raised from this plant often assume the upright growth of 
the typical species. In the collection of Yews on Yew Path there is 
also a small very compact plant of a form of Taxus cuspidata which 
is one of the most distinct and beautiful of all the dwarf evergreens 
in the Arboretum; this appears to be a unique plant and has not re- 
ceived a name. Nearly all the forms of the European Yew ( Taxus 
baccata) suffer more or less severely here from cold and several of 
them are unable to survive a New England winter. There is, however, 
one form which is perfectly hardy; this is a broad, flat-topped, rather 
compact shrub not more than two feet high, with exceedingly dark 
green foliage. This variety is sometimes sold in American nurseries 
as Taxus repandens ; this name has not been published, however, in 
any of the technical books on conifers and we know nothing here of its 
