This species is highly recommended by some nurserymen for ornamental
planting. It proves hardy in the southern part of the state. It is a
fast growing tree, adapted to a wet soil, but will succeed in drier
situations.
=5. THÙJA.= Arbor-Vitæ.
=Thuja occidentàlis= Linnæus. Arbor-Vitæ. Plate 8. Small evergreen trees
with a conical crown, bark on old trees reddish-brown or dark gray,
shreddy; branchlets compressed, reddish-brown; leaves all closely
appressed, in alternate pairs, scale-like, about 3 mm. long on young
branchlets, on old branches somewhat longer together with a spine 2-3
mm. long; flowers appear early in the spring from the ends of the
branches; cones mature the first season, about 1 cm. long and .5 cm. in
diameter; wood soft, brittle, weak and durable.
=Distribution.=--New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to Minnesota and New
Jersey thence southward along the Alleghanies to North Carolina and
Tennessee. In Indiana it is found native[9] only in Lake and Porter
Counties. In Lake County a few isolated specimens have been found in
several places near Lake Michigan. In Porter County it is known only in
a large tamarack swamp north of the Mineral Springs stop on the Traction
line, and about a mile from Lake Michigan. Here about 100 trees are
found scattered over an area of less than two acres. The largest
specimen measures 70 cm. in circumference. This species is doomed to
early extinction in our area. No doubt it already has vanished from Lake
County, and it is probable that the colony north of Mineral Springs is
the last of the species in Indiana.
=Remarks.=--While only found in a swamp in Indiana, this species adapts
itself to all kinds of soils and exposures. It transplants readily and
is used for ornamental purposes, and for windbreaks. Dwarf forms are
frequently planted for hedges. The wood is used principally for poles
and posts, and is commercially known as white cedar.
=6. JUNÍPERUS.= The Junipers.
Evergreen shrubs or trees, leaves opposite or whorled, sessile,
scale-like or short-linear; fruit berry-like; seeds 1-3.
=Juniperus virginiàna= Linnæus. Red Cedar. Plate 9. A small tree,
usually 1-2 dm. and rarely up to 5 dm. in diameter; bark shreddy;
branches usually more or less ascending which gives the tree a narrow
conic appearance; shoots green, soon turning light to reddish-brown and
on older branches gray or dark brown; leaves 4-ranked, scale-like and
1.5-2 mm. long, or subulate, decurrent at base and 3-10 mm. long on
vigorous branches or very small trees; flowers terminal; fruit ripening
the first season, berry-like, globose but longer than wide, with a bloom
and a very resinous pulp about the seeds which are usually 1 or 2; wood
light, brittle, close-grained, durable and fragrant.
[Illustration: Plate 8.