bending to the ground under their weight of branchlets and leaves;
above, they spread horizontally, but the uppermost are more or less
ascending. The branchlets are given off mostly in opposite pairs,
densely clothed with slender, rich green leaves, 3/4 to 1-1/4 inches in
length, paler beneath. They endure for six or seven years, and are
arranged in three or four ranks. The male flowers will be found
clustered at intervals on the underside of the previous year's shoots,
whilst the cones are formed at the tips of the lateral branchlets, and
hang downwards. These cones are somewhat elliptical in outline, from
2-1/2 to 4 inches long, with large scales, and from the back of each
there extends a three-clawed bract, whereof the middle claw or awn is
very long. Several well-marked varieties of the Douglas Fir are also to
be met with occasionally in parks and gardens.
The Douglas Fir produces excellent timber, and is a most valuable forest
tree, not only on that account, but because of its adaptability to
varying conditions of soil and climate. It is the most widely
distributed of all American forest trees, and the area of its
distribution is spread over thirty-two degrees of latitude, and from end
to end of this range it has, in the words of Sargent, "to endure the
fierce gales and long winters of the north, and the nearly perpetual
sunshine of the Mexican Cordilleras; to thrive in the rain and fog which
sweep almost continuously along the Pacific coast range, and on the arid
mountain slopes of the interior, where for months every year rain never
falls." It appears to thrive best where the air is humid and the soil
well drained. It begins to bear cones about its twenty-fifth year. The
straight tapering trunk is largely used for the masts and spars of
ships, its suitability for this purpose being evident to all visitors to
Kew who have gazed at the flag-staff set up in the arboretum. This pole
is 159 feet long, with a circumference of 6 feet at the base, tapering
to 2 feet 2 inches at the top, and weighing about 3 tons. It was brought
from Vancouver Island, and an examination of its rings before it was set
up showed that it represented the growth of about 250 years. The full
life of the Douglas Fir is estimated to be about 750 years.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Pl. 164._ Stone Pine.]
[Illustration: _Pl. 165._ Bole of Stone Pine.]
The Stone Pine (_Pinus pinea_).
Between the tall, graceful spire of the Douglas Fir and the squat,
heavy, umbrella-like head of the Stone Pine, there is an enormous
contrast. It must be confessed that the Stone Pine is less beautiful
than picturesque, a point that strongly commends it to the landscape
painter working in the countries bordering the Mediterranean, in
which region it is native. The date of its introduction to Britain is
not known, but it has been in cultivation here certainly for more than
three centuries and a half, for Turner mentions it in his "Names of
Herbes in Greke, Latin, Englishe, Duch, and Frenche," published in 1548.
In its native countries it attains a height of sixty to eighty feet, but
in this country the finest examples are only about thirty-five feet,
whilst ordinary British-grown examples are only half that height. Its
trunk, covered with rugged, and deeply fissured, thick, red-grey bark,
forks at no great distance from the roots, and sends off massive
spreading branches of great length. For several years the young tree
produces short single leaves, but later leaves are five or six inches
long, slender, and of a bright green tint, in pairs, united at their
base by a pale sheath. These leaves endure for two or three years. The
pollen-bearing flowers are crowded into a spike. The female flowers are
about three-quarters of an inch long, composed of pale greenish scales.
After fertilization, these grow to a length of four to six inches, of a
rugged oval form and red-brown colour, ripening in the third year. The
scales of these cones are somewhat wedge-shaped, with a stout rhomboid
boss, which has a depression round the central protuberance. The seeds,
which are eaten for dessert and preserved as sweetmeats in the countries
where the Stone Pine is native, are enclosed in a bony shell, and it is
from this circumstance that the tree gets its name.
[Illustration: Stone Pine, cone and leaves.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Pl. 166._ Austrian Pine.]
[Illustration: _Pl. 167._ Bole of Austrian Pine.]
The Austrian Pine (_Pinus laricio_).
What is known as the Austrian Pine is a variety of the Corsican or Larch
Pine, and its botanical name correctly set out is _Pinus laricio_, var.
_austriaca_. The name has reference to the fact that its chief home as
an indigenous tree is in the southern provinces of the Austrian Empire.
The range of the type and its varieties together includes Central and
Southern Europe, and part of Western Asia. It is a comparatively recent
addition to our sylva in both forms, for the type was introduced in
1759, in the belief that it was a maritime form of the Scots Pine, but
the variety _austriaca_ was first sent out by Lawson and Son, the
Edinburgh nurserymen, in 1835.
[Illustration: Austrian Pine.]
The typical species (Corsican Pine) is a slender tree of somewhat
pyramidal form, growing to the height of 80 to 120 feet. The Austrian
Pine, though a large tree, is of smaller proportions--from 60 to 80 feet
high--but with stouter and longer branches, and denser foliage. The
leaves, which vary from three to five inches in length, are sheathed in
pairs, convex on the outer side, rigid, glossy, dark green, and with
toothed margins. The cone is conical (!), with a rounded base, two to
three inches in length, and its position on the branch is almost
horizontal, the scales somewhat similar to those of the Scots Pine, but
with stronger bosses, and of a yellowish-brown colour, polished. It
takes about seventeen months to become full grown and ripen the seeds.
[Illustration: _Pl. 168._ Cones of Austrian Pine.]
The Austrian Pine is one of those that do well on poor soils, and takes
kindly to chalk. From the density of its foliage, it makes a good shade
and shelter tree. Its timber, though coarse in grain, is very durable,
and useful for outside work.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Pl. 169._ Cedar of Lebanon.]
Cedar of Lebanon (_Cedrus libani_).
Made familiar, by name at least, from very early times by frequent
references to it in the books of the Old Testament, it is rather strange
that so hardy a tree was not one of the first of those introduced for
ornament into Britain. It is true that local legends attaching to some
old Cedars in this country credit them with having been planted in "the
spacious times of great Elizabeth"--as the great Cedar at Whitton,
Middlesex, blown down in 1779; but, on the other hand, we have the fact
that no mention is made of the Cedar by John Evelyn in his "Sylva"
(1664). This, it is true, is only negative evidence; but it is strong
none the less, for it is not at all likely that so keen and pious an
arboriculturist would have omitted mention of so noteworthy a tree had
such been growing here when he wrote. There is reason to believe,
however, that the still-existing Enfield Cedar was planted about the
date of Evelyn's publication by Dr. Uvedale, master of the Enfield
Grammar School.
The researches of Sir J. D. Hooker, subsequent to his memorable
expedition to Lebanon and Taurus in 1860, established the specific
identity of the three Cedars known as the Mount Atlas Cedar, the Cedar
of Lebanon, and the Deodar. Though the arboriculturist still treats them
as distinct species, they are scientifically regarded as geographical
forms of one species. For convenience we here adopt the
arboriculturist's view.
[Illustration: _Pl. 170._ Bole of Cedar of Lebanon.]
[Illustration: Cedar of Lebanon.]
The Cedar varies greatly--no tree more so--in height and general
outline, according to situation and environment, and though the stature
of well-grown trees in this country may be correctly stated as from 50
to 80 feet, we are not without examples of 100 and 120 feet where the
conditions have been specially favourable. There is one of 120 feet at
Strathfieldsaye, and among the numerous fine Cedars at Goodwood there is
the celebrated Great Cedar, 90 feet high, with a bole 25 feet in
circumference, and a broad conical head whose base has a diameter of 130
feet. But the Cedar, as usually seen on lawns and in parks, has a low,
rounded, or flattened top, the great spreading arms having grown more
rapidly than the trunk. Thus grown, the huge bole has seldom any great
length, throwing out these timber branches at from six to ten feet from
the ground, and immediately afterwards the trunk is divided into several
stems. From these the main branches take a curving direction, at first
ascending, but the part furthest from the trunk becoming almost
horizontal. It is chiefly at the extremity of the branches that the
branchlets and leaves are produced.
The evergreen leaves last for three, four, or five years, and are of
needle-shape, varying in length from a little less to a little more than
an inch. They are produced in a similar manner to those of the Larch--in
tufts that are arranged spirally round dwarf shoots, mostly on the upper
side of the branchlets. The male flowers are to be found at the
extremity of branchlets which, though six or seven years old, are very
short, their development having been arrested. The solid, purple-brown
cones are only three or four inches long, broad-topped, and with a
diameter of about half the length; the scales thin and closely pressed
together; they are at first greyish-green, tinged with pink. The
development and maturity of these cones takes two or three seasons, and
they remain on the tree for several years longer. The seeds are angular,
with a wedge-shaped wing.
The trees do not produce cones until they are from twenty-five to thirty
years old; but they may be a century old before producing either male or
female flowers.
The trunk is covered with thick, rough, deeply fissured bark. On the
branches the bark is smooth, and peels off in thin flakes. The Cedar, in
its native habitat, produces admirable timber, but that of trees grown
in our own country is described by Loudon as "reddish-white, light and
spongy, easily worked, but very apt to shrink and warp, and by no means
durable." For these reasons the tree is grown almost solely for
ornament.
The name Cedar is supposed to be derived from the Arabic _kedroum_, or
_k[e']dre_ (power), and has reference to its majestic proportions and
strong timber.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Pl. 171._ Deodar.]
The Deodar, or Indian Cedar (_Cedrus deodara_).
Although, as we have indicated, the differences between the Cedar of
Lebanon and the Cedar of Himalaya are not such as can be scientifically
accepted as constituting specific distinctness, they are sufficient to
at once strike the ordinary observer. In proportion to the height of the
trunk, for example, the main branches are much shorter, the result being
a more regular pyramidal outline, terminating in a light spire. The
terminal shoots of the branches are longer, more slender, and quite
pendulous. These differences, though really slight, transform the rather
heavy majesty of the Cedar, as represented by _C. libani_, into one of
graceful beauty. Although the experience of sixty years has sadly
falsified the high hopes entertained as to the suitability of the Deodar
for cultivation in this country as a timber tree, its value for
ornamental purposes and in landscape gardening has not been impaired.
The headquarters of the Deodar are in the mountains of north-west India,
where it forms forests at various altitudes above 3500 feet. Its
vertical distribution, indeed, extends to a height of 12,000 feet, but
its principal habitat lies between 6000 and 10,000 feet. Deodar timber
produced in its native forests is exceedingly durable, being compact and
even grained, not liable to warp or split, and standing the test of
being alternately wet and dry. Loudon states that when a building, which
had been erected by the Emperor Akbar in the latter part of the
sixteenth century, was pulled down between 1820 and 1825, the Deodar
timber used in its construction was found to be so sound that it was
again used in building a house for Rajah Shah. And Brandis tells of very
much more ancient bridges in Srunagar, whose piers are of Deodar wood,
and appear to be as yet unaffected by decay.
[Illustration: Deodar. A, cone.]
It is to the Hon. W. L. Melville that we are indebted for the
introduction of the Deodar to Britain in 1831, and during the next ten
years many young trees were raised here from seeds. Favourably impressed
by the rapidity of growth of these seedlings, the government, fearing a
coming shortage of Oak for naval purposes, imported and distributed
large numbers of Deodar seeds, and high estimates were formed of the
future value of these trees. But in framing these estimates one
important factor was omitted--the uncertainty of the British climate,
with its rapid changes, "everything by turns, and nothing long." A score
or two of years served to demonstrate that such conditions were opposed
to the longevity and uniform development that produced sound timber on
the Indian mountains; and to-day the Deodar is not mentioned among the
trees that are to bring riches to the British timber grower. In spite
of this failure, there are to be seen in many parts of these islands
fine young Deodars of forty or fifty years, and from fifty to seventy
feet in height.
[Illustration: _Pl. 172._ Bole of Deodar.]
There is no necessity for repeating the particulars already given
respecting the Cedar of Lebanon, and which apply to the Deodar with such
modifications as are indicated in the first paragraph above. Specimens
grown where they have sufficient space for spreading out their long
arms, retain their branches to the base of the trunk, and if these are
cut off they can reproduce them. Several nursery varieties--with golden
(_aurea_), silvery (_argentea_), or more intense green (_viridis_)
foliage than the type--have appeared as a result of European
cultivation.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Pl. 173._ Lawson's Cypress.]
Lawson's Cypress (_Cupressus lawsoniana_).
Lawson's Cypress belongs to that section of Conifers which includes the
Junipers and Thuias, and is a representative of the North American
Sylva. It is a native of South Oregon and North California, where it is
believed to have been first discovered by Jeffrey, about 1852. Two years
later seeds were received by Messrs. Lawson, the Edinburgh nurserymen,
from Mr. William Murray, and from these seeds were raised the first
young trees of this species sent out by the firm. The name was bestowed
in honour of Mr. Charles Lawson, the then head of the firm, and by this
name it is generally known in Europe, but in the United States it is the
Port Orford Cypress. At Port Orford, on the Oregon coast, according to
Sargent, "it forms one of the most prolific and beautiful coniferous
forests of the continent, unsurpassed in the variety and luxuriance of
its undergrowth of Rhododendrons, Vacciniums, Raspberries, Buckthorns,
and Ferns," and any one who has seen well-grown specimens in the
pleasure-grounds of this country can easily realize something of the
beauty of such a forest, though allowance has to be made for the fact
that in forest growth the lower branches are lost at an early age.
[Illustration: Lawson Cypress.]
In its native home the Lawson Cypress attains a height of between 120
and 150 feet, occasionally reaching 200 feet, with a base circumference
of 40 feet. The thick brown bark splits into rounded scaly ridges. The
short horizontal branches divide a good deal towards their leafy
extremities, which are curved, and commonly drooping. The leaves are
little evergreen scales, which overlap, and being closely pressed to the
branchlet, completely clothe and hide it. They are bright dark-green in
colour, and endure for three or four years. The male flowers are
produced at the tips of short branchlets, formed a year earlier. They
are of cylindric form, crimson in colour, and each stamen bears from two
to six anther-cells. The small "cones" are more or less globular, but
instead of a large number of spirally arranged overlapping scales, as in
the Pines and Firs, here there are only eight, whose edges at first join
to form a box. When the "cone" is ripe these scales separate, to allow
the escape of the seeds.
The Lawson Cypress produces a valuable wood, close-grained and strong,
yet light. It is considered one of the most important timber trees of
North America; but in this country it has been planted solely with a
view to its ornamental qualities. Its perfect hardiness and its freedom
of growth may, with longer experience than half a century affords, lead
to its being regarded as a timber producer here also.
The Common Cypress (_Cupressus sempervirens_) of the Mediterranean
region and the East, of which poets have sung in all ages, has been
cultivated in this country for at least three hundred and fifty years.
[Illustration: _Pl. 174._ Bole of Lawson's Cypress.]
The Chili Pine (_Araucaria imbricata_).
The Chili Pine, or "Monkey Puzzle," is a familiar sight on suburban
lawns, where, however, it seldom attains a large size or long retains
health. The lower branches drop off, and the upper ones become brown, as
though scorched. But away from the smoke-laden atmosphere and
uncongenial soils, some handsome and massive Araucarias may be seen
rising from fair lawns, with dense branches curving at their tips, and
regularly disposed in whorls from the dome-like head of the tree to the
grass at its base. Such was the magnificent specimen at Dropmore that
died in 1902, such is the fine tree at Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny, which
now presumably takes the position of eminence in these islands hitherto
held by the Dropmore example.
[Illustration: Chili Pine, and cone. A, seed, with attached wing.]
The Chili Pine is a native of Southern Chili, where it was discovered by
a Spaniard, Don F. Dendariarena, in 1780, as he was prospecting for
timber. About the same time two other Spaniards, Drs. Ruiz and Pavon,
were botanizing in Chili, and came across the Araucaria, of which they
sent herbarium specimens to Europe. But in spite of this three-fold
opportunity for Spain, the actual introduction of the Araucaria to
Europe must be credited to Britain. Archibald Menzies, who accompanied
Captain Vancouver as botanist on his celebrated voyage, came across the
tree in Chili, and brought home both seeds and young plants. One of
these became a fine tree at Kew, where it was for many years the object
of admiration and interest, but it perished in 1892.
[Illustration: _Pl. 175._ Chili Pine.]
The Araucaria forms extensive pure forests in the province of Arauco,
from which it gets its name, and to whose inhabitants the seeds are a
most important item of their food-supply. Not only do the trees in these
forests lose their lower branches, but even those growing in the open
plains of their native country have similarly bare trunks for nearly
half their height. It is therefore a satisfaction to know that the
finest specimens grown in this country have really surpassed those grown
in their natural home. The height reached by old trees is from eighty to
a hundred feet, with a trunk-girth of from sixteen to twenty-three feet.
The tapering of this trunk is very slight, and a few of the stiff,
spine-tipped leaves, with which its younger extremity is densely
clothed, still remain attached in a dried-up condition far down the
column. These leaves will have been observed to entirely cover the
branches, not being restricted, as in most trees, to the newly formed
branchlets and twigs. They are very hard, and endure for about fifteen
years; are about an inch and a quarter long, and overlap, though their
sharp-pointed ends turn away from the branch.
The cylindrical male flowers are four or five inches long, borne singly
or in small clusters. It was formerly supposed that the sexes were on
separate trees, but though many individuals only produce flowers of one
kind, this is by no means the general rule. The female flowers are about
four inches long, almost round in shape, but broader at the base than
above. They are covered with long, narrow, overlapping scales, beneath
which are found the seeds when the flower has developed into the brown
cone, which is six inches in diameter. The scales are then easily
detached; in fact, when the seeds are ripe, the cone falls to pieces.
The seed is about an inch and a half long, enclosed in a hard, thin
shell.
The Chili Pine does not succeed in this country unless it is given pure
air, sunshine, abundant moisture, and an open subsoil to carry it off.
Yet it will grow to a very handsome tree if these conditions are
observed. Very fine effects have been obtained in some places by
planting an Araucaria grove. Such an avenue is in fine condition at
Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny (running parallel with an avenue of _Abies
nobilis_), every tree with its branches intact from turf to summit, and
bearing fertile cones. There is a similar, but less perfectly preserved,
Araucaria grove at Bicton in Devonshire.
CLASSIFIED INDEX
TO
NATURAL ORDERS, GENERA AND SPECIES
_Described in this work._
Order TILIACEAE.
TILIA platyphyllos, Scop., 36, 40. _Plates_ 27, 28, 29, 30, 31
" parvifolia, Ehrh., 37, 40
" vulgaris, Hayne, 37, 40
Order ILICINEAE.
ILEX aquifolium, L., 85. _Plates_ 81, 82, 83, 84
Order CELASTRINEAE.
EUONYMUS europaeus, L., 88. _Plates_ 85, 86, 87
" japonicus, Thunb., 90
" latifolius, C. Bauh., 90
Order RHAMNEAE.
RHAMNUS catharticus, L., 90. _Plate_ 89
" frangula, L., 91. _Plates_ 88, 90
Order SAPINDACEAE.
AESCULUS hippocastanum, L., 139. _Plates_ 1, 144, 145, 146, 147
" carnea, Willd., 143
ACER campestre, L., 49. _Plate_ 43
" platanoides, L., 53
" pseudo-platanus, L., 51. _Plates_ 44, 45, 46, 47, 48
Order LEGUMINOSAE.
LABURNUM vulgare, Presl., 145. _Plate_ 149
ROBINIA pseudacacia, L., 147. _Plates_ 150, 151, 152
Order ROSACEAE.
PRUNUS communis, Hudson, 92. _Plates_ 92, 93
" insititia, L., 94
" domestica, L., 94. _Plate_ 91
" avium, L., 95. _Plates_ 94, 95
" cerasus, L., 97
" padus, L., 98. _Plates_ 96, 97, 99
PYRUS communis, L., 98. _Plates_ 100, 102, 103
" cordata, Desv., 100
" malus, L., 101. _Plates_ 98, 101, 104, 105, 106
" aria, Ehrh., 103. _Plates_ 107, 108, 109, 110
" latifolia, Syme, 105
" scandica, Syme, 105
" torminalis, DC., 105
" aucuparia, Gaert., 106. _Plates_ 111, 112, 113, 114
" sorbus, Gaert., 109. _Plates_ 115, 117, 119
" germanica, Hook., 110. _Plate_ 116
CRATAEGUS oxyacantha, Pall., 112. _Plates_ 118, 120, 121, 122, 123
Order CORNACEAE.
CORNUS sanguinea, L., 116. _Plates_ 125, 126
" suecica, L., 118
Order CAPRIFOLIACEAE.
SAMBUCUS nigra, L., 123. _Plates_ 129, 131
VIBURNUM opulus, L., 120. _Plate_ 130
" lantana, L., 118. _Plates_ 127, 128
Order ERICACEAE.
ARBUTUS unedo, L., 114. _Plate_ 124
Order OLEACEAE.
FRAXINUS excelsior, L., 45. _Plates_ 39, 40, 41, 42
Order LAURACEAE.
LAURUS nobilis, L., 143. _Plate_ 148
Order EUPHORBIACEAE.
BUXUS sempervirens, L., 125. _Plates_ 132, 133
Order URTICACEAE.
ULMUS montana, Stokes, 40. _Plates_ 32, 33, 34, 35
" campestris, L., 43. _Plates_ 36, 37, 38
Order PLATANACEAE.
PLATANUS orientalis, L., 128. _Plates_ 134, 135, 136
" occidentalis, L., 129
Order JUGLANDACEAE.
JUGLANS regia, L., 131. _Plates_ 137, 138, 139
Order CUPULIFERAE.
BETULA alba, L., 25. _Plates_ 13, 14, 15, 16
" verrucosa, Ehrh., 28
" pubescens, Ehrh., 28
" nana, L., 28
ALNUS glutinosa, Medic., 29. _Plates_ 17, 18, 19, 20
CARPINUS betulus, L., 31. _Plates_ 21, 22, 23, 24
CORYLUS avellana, L., 34. _Plates_ 25, 26
QUERCUS robur, L., 13. _Plates_ 2, 3, 4, 5, 10
" ilex, L., 18. _Plate_ 6
" cerris, L., 19. _Plate_ 7
CASTANEA sativa, Mill., 135. _Plates_ 140, 141, 142, 143
FAGUS sylvatica, L., 20. _Plates_ 8, 9, 11, 12
Order SALICINEAE.