Part 41 (1/2)

GENUS =105. CRYPTOMeRIA.=

A genus of evergreens containing only the following species:

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. j.a.ponica.]

=Cryptomeria j.a.ponica=, Don. (j.a.pAN CEDAR.) Leaves about in. long, not flattened, but about equally 4-sided, curved and tapering quite gradually from the tip to the large, sessile base; branches spreading, mostly horizontal, with numerous branchlets. Cones to in. in diameter, globular, terminal, sessile, very persistent, with numerous, loose, not overlapping scales. A beautiful tree from j.a.pan, 50 to 100 ft. high. Not very successfully grown in our climate. North of Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., it needs a sheltered position, and should have a deep, but not very rich soil.

GENUS =106. JUNiPERUS.=

Leaves evergreen, awl-shaped or scale-like, rigid, often of two shapes on the same plant. Spray not 2-ranked. Flowers usually dioecious.

Fertile catkins rounded, of 3 to 6 fleshy, coalescent scales, forming in fruit a bluish-black berry with a whitish bloom, but found on only a portion of the plants.

* Leaves rather long, in., in whorls of threes 1.

* Leaves smaller; on the old branches mostly opposite 2.

[Ill.u.s.tration: J. communis.]

1. =Juniperus communis=, L. (COMMON JUNIPER.) Leaves rather long, in., linear, awl-shaped, in whorls of threes, p.r.i.c.kly-pointed, upper surface glaucous-white, under surface bright green. Fruit globular, in. or more in diameter, dark purple when ripe, covered with light-colored bloom. A shrub or small tree with spreading or pendulous branches; common in dry, sterile soils. There are a great many varieties of this species in cultivation, but few of them grow tall enough to be considered trees.

Var. _Hibernica_ (Irish Juniper) grows erect like a column. Var.

_Alpina_ is a low creeping plant. Var. _hemispherica_ is almost like a half-sphere lying on the ground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: J. Virginiana.]

2. =Juniperus Virginiana=, L. (RED CEDAR.) Leaves very small and numerous, scale-like on the older branches, but awl-shaped and somewhat spreading on the young shoots; dark green. Fruit small, 1/5 in., abundant on the pistillate plants, dark purple and covered with fine, glaucous bloom. Trees from 20 to 80 ft. high (sometimes only shrubs), with mostly horizontal branches, thin, scaling bark, dense habit of growth, and dark foliage. Wood light, fine-grained, durable; the heart-wood of a handsome dark red color. Wild throughout; several varieties are found in cultivation. Many other species from China, j.a.pan, California, etc., are occasionally cultivated, but few are large enough to be called trees, and those that are large enough are not of sufficient importance to need specific notice.

GENUS =107. TaXUS.=

Leaves evergreen, flat, linear, mucronate, rigid, scattered, appearing more or less 2-ranked. Fertile flowers and the fruit solitary; the fruit, a nut-like seed in a cup-shaped, fleshy portion formed from a disk; red.

[Ill.u.s.tration: T. baccata.]

=Taxus baccata=, L. (COMMON EUROPEAN YEW.) Leaves evergreen, 2-ranked, crowded, linear, flat, curved, acute. Fruit a nut-like seed within a cup 1/3 in. in diameter; red when ripe in the autumn. As this species is somewhat dioecious, a portion of the plants will be without fruit. A widely spreading shrub rather than a tree, extensively cultivated under nearly a score of named varieties. We have a closely related wild species, =Taxus Canadensis= (THE GROUND-HEMLOCK), which is merely a low straggling bush.