pinetum at Cowdray this form also grows very well, and it is perfectly hardy at Colesborne and in Yorkshire. At Poltalloch in Argyllshire it also attains large dimensions.
Identification
Cryptomeria resembles Sequoia and Araucaria Cunninghami in having leaves which are spirally arranged and markedly decurrent on the shoots. The awl-shaped leaves of Araucaria Cunninghami strongly resemble those of the ordinary forms of Cryptomeria; but in the former they always end in bristle-like points, whereas in the latter they taper to a blunt point. The subulate leaves of Sequoia gigantea are closely appressed to the shoots in three ranks, with only their upper half free ; whereas in Cryptomeria they are in five ranks, and are free from the shoots for the greater part of their length.
Introduction
The tree is said by Siebold[1] to have been introduced into St. Petersburg by the overland route through Siberia, several years before Fortune sent it to England. The credit of the introduction into England is, however, due to Captain Sir Everard Home,[2] who sent seeds to Kew from Chusan in 1842. Several seedlings were raised at Kew, which were kept in a greenhouse till 1847, and were then planted out; but they never did well. One planted near the rockery was living in 1880, when it measured 26 feet high by 2 feet 3 inches in girth ; and another stood for some years near the main entrance. Both these trees have been cut down, and there do not appear to be any survivors of the first importation now at Kew or elsewhere. Fortune introduced the tree in quantity in 1844, when he sent seeds, apparently gathered in Chekiang, from Shanghai to the Horticultural Society. The first tree planted in France was at Chaverney in 1844, and the second at Angers in 1847. All the old trees in this country and on the Continent are from Fortune's seeds, and belong consequently to the Chinese form.
The variety Lobbii was introduced by Thomas Lobb in 1853 from the Botanic Garden of Buitzenborg in Java, where it had been sent from Japan in 1825 by Siebold,[3] It differs only slightly from the ordinary Japanese form. Siebold[4] states that he introduced the typical Japanese form into Leyden in 1861. John Gould Veitch introduced several kinds of Cryptomeria, as the result of his visit to Japan in i860; but I have not been able to identify these, and according to H.J. Veitch,[5] the typical Japanese form was first introduced by Maries in 1879. Probably there are no trees of this kind in England older than this date. The introduction of variety elegans has been already given above.(A.H.)
Distribution in China
Cryptomeria was discovered in China in 1701 by J. Cunningham, who found it in
