and the great size of the leaves on the young trees give it a striking and distinctive appearance.(A.H.)
In Japan I saw this tree planted in gardens and parks near Tokyo, where it does not seem to grow so large as in its native forests and in higher, colder situations. Sargent says[1] that in the forests of the interior of Hondo, at 2000 to 3000 feet, it attains 80 to 100 feet high, with trunks 3 to 4 feet in diameter, and that these were perhaps the largest deciduous trees that he saw growing wild in the forest. It reaches its most northern point of distribution near Mororan in Hokkaido at sea-level, and I did not see it near Sapporo, in the Aomori district, or near Nikko. At a tea-house called Hideshira, near the village of Sooga on the Nakasendo road, Central Japan, I saw the largest trees of this species growing in a dense grove with Zelkova acuminata, They attained over 80 feet high, with clean trunks 40 to 50 feet long, and a girth of 14 feet.
On the Torii-toge Pass, between Wada and Yabuhara, at about 3300 feet, there were many fine trees growing by the side of the road, of one of which I give an illustration from a photograph taken for me by Masuhara of Tokyo in November (Plate 66).
Timber
The timber of this tree, though not highly valued in Japan on account of its softness and want of strength, is used for boat and bridge building, furniture making, house-fittings, and for the groundwork of lacquer. It often shows a waved figure, and when old assumes a pale reddish-brown colour, which makes it very ornamental. Such wood, which I procured at Aomori, has been used with good effect in my Japanese wardrobe, and takes a good polish. It is also much used for trays, and from the large burrs and swellings near the root very handsome trays, as much as 18 or 20 inches square, are carved by the Japanese and sold in the villages at a low price. Its value in Tokyo is given at 60 to 100 yen per 100 cubic feet. I saw a plank of this wood in a timber merchant's shop in Osaka measuring 15 feet long and 58 inches wide, showing wavy figure all through. For this plank 90 yen, equal to about ₤9, was asked, these immense planks being much valued by Japanese connoisseurs for house decoration.(H.J.E.)
- ↑ Forest Flora of Japan, 28.
