68 
tree it has no advantage over the native White Pine or the western 
Pinus monticola. Picea omorika was first raised from seed at the Arbor¬ 
etum in 1881; it has proved hardy and has grown rapidly, but suffers 
somewhat from the weevil which does so much damage to the leader 
of the native White Pine. Picea omorika is the only Spruce-tree with 
flat leaves which is really hardy in this climate; and at the end of forty- 
two years it is by far the handsomest and most satisfactory Spruce-tree 
in the Arboretum. 
Conifers from Eastern Asia. China, especially the western part of 
the empire, is the home of a large number of conifers. It has given 
us from the south the Golden Larch {Pseudolarix amabilis), the hand¬ 
somest of all the conifers with deciduous leaves and one of the most 
beautiful trees which can be grown in eastern North America, and 
from the north the interesting Lace-bark Pine {Pinus Bungeana) with 
thin papery bark as white on the trunks of old trees as that of a Canoe 
Birch, various forms of the common and widely distributed hard Pine 
(P. sinensis), and Juniperus chinensis in numerous forms. Of the value 
of the numerous Firs and Spruces discovered by Wilson on the slopes 
of the mountains of western China and now growing in the Arboretum 
it is still too early to say anything beyond the fact that at this time 
Picea Balfouriana promises to be the most distinct and valuable. To 
Japan the Arboretum is indebted for several Spruces, Pines and Firs, 
including Abies homolepis, often sold in nurseries as A. brachyphylla, 
the best probably of all the Firs for this climate, one of the handsom¬ 
est of Junipers (J. rigida), the Retinosporas {Chamaecyparis), the hand¬ 
some Thuja Standishii, and the curious Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys). 
The Rocky Mountain Region of North America has done much for 
the New England lovers of conifers. Four trees which grow to their 
largest size in the forests of the Pacific states range inland to the con¬ 
tinental divide and are hardy here. These trees in the north are Abies 
grandis, Thuya plicata, one of America’s noblest trees, Pinus monticola, 
the western White Pine, and Tsuga heterophylla; the southern Rocky 
Mountain states have given us hardy forms of the Douglas Spruce {Pseu- 
dotsuga) and of the White Fir of California {Abies concolor), and the En- 
gelmann Spruce {Picea Evgelmannii), one of the world’s handsomest 
Spruce-trees. This tree has been growing since 1873 in the Arboretum 
where it is perfectly hardy. It has grown rapidly and until four or five 
years ago formed a perfect pyramid with lower branches sweeping the 
ground. Then the lower branches began to die and the trunks are now 
bare of branches for a distance of four or five feet above the ground. 
The tops of the trees, however, are still in perfect health and are grow¬ 
ing rapidly. 
The want of space in these Bulletins forbids a detailed description 
of these and of many of the other conifers in the collection, but the fol¬ 
lowing list of seven species which up to this time show here the great¬ 
est promise as ornamental trees may be useful. The Carolina Hemlock 
{Tsuga caroliniana) is placed first on the list as the most beautiful con¬ 
ifer now growing in the Arboretum; the others are the native White 
Pine {P. Strobus), the Japanese Abies homolepis, the Colorado A. con- 
color, the European Picea omorika, the Rocky Mountain Thuya plicata, 
and the Chinese Golden Larch {Pseudolarix amabilis). 
These Bulletins will now be discontinued until the spring of 1924. 
