CONIFERS GROWN IN SUBURBAN GARDENS. 169
in the cones being composed of a greater number of bracts.
T. orientalis, the Chinese Arbor-Vitae, a low tree or shrub, abounds
on rocky hills in China and Japan; the erect branches and rather
dull-green close foliage give it a characteristic aspect. A
weathered and rather ragged tree in our garden at Leytonstone
must be at least 80 years old, but the young compact forms,
with a yellow-green variety of foliage, are more ornamental and
deservedly popular, and are not unfrequent in gardens in our
neighbourhood. Thuya plicata Lamb. (syn. T. gigantea Hooker.
T. Lobbii Hort.), the Western White Cedar, is one of the finest
trees of Western America, both as regards height and girth,
It extends from British Columbia as far north as Alaska, and may
attain the height of 150 feet. It is by far the most beautiful
tree of the genus, with graceful drooping tips to the fern-like
branches and deep green shining resinous foliage. It grows
in several of our suburban gardens, but needs purer air for com-
plete success.
The Cypresses are distinguished by their shield-shaped cone-
scales, those of Thuya and Libocedrus being oblong.
Cupressus Lawsoniana, Lawson's Cypress, is a handsome tree,
in aspect resembling Thuya plicata. It is a native of Northern
California, where along the banks of streams it grows to the height
of 100 feet. It is a hardy plant and may be seen in one form
or other of its many varieties, either compact or glaucous or erect,
in most gardens and churchyards. In spring the bright red
anthers of the stamen-cones have a showy effect against the dark
foliage.
C. Nutkaensis, the Yellow Cypress, is another handsome
tree; it is like C. Lawsoniana, but has more strikingly drooping
branchlets, and keeled rank-smelling leaves. The smooth round
cones, with few shield-like bracts, each with a central spine, are
also characteristic. It grows along the coast of British Columbia,
and on Vancouver Island. I noticed it as a vigorous shrub in
a garden on Leppits Hill, Chingford.
C. pisifera, the Pea-fruited Cypress, is a small tree from the
Island of Nippon, Japan. The acute foliage is usually concave
and glaucous beneath and has a feathery appearance. It is not
unfrequent in gardens as a small shrub, usually with a spreading
type of foliage. For, like most of the Cypresses, Arbor-Vitas
and Junipers, this species has in its youth linear spreading