Tsuga Brunoniana occurs in the Himalayas, from Kumaon to Bhotan, at altitudes varying from 8000 to 10,500 feet. Franchet considers that certain Chinese specimens constitute a distinct variety of the species, which he has named var. chinensis.[1] These were collected in N.E. Szechuan by Père Farges, and in the mountains of western Yunnan at 9000 feet altitude by Père Delavay. Diels[2] also identifies with this variety specimens collected by Von Rosthorn in Szechuan. I have seen no Chinese examples, and Mr. E. H. Wilson considers that there is only one species of Tsuga in the mountains of Szechuan, which is Tsuga chinensis, Masters. Small plants of the Chinese Tsuga are now in cultivation at Coombe Wood; and are as yet too young to entitle us to speak definitely concerning its affinities. (A.H.)
In the interior of Sikkim I saw this beautiful tree in great perfection in the same forests where Sir Joseph Hooker so well describes it,[3] during my journey with the late W.E. Blanford to the Tibetan frontier in 1870. It occurs first in the Lachen valley at about 8000 feet in an extremely moist summer climate, where snow lies for two or three months in winter, growing in company with Picea Morindoides, Abies Webbiana, and, higher up, with Larix Griffithii, in a forest unrivalled in the temperate region for its botanical and zoological wealth; where it commonly attains a height of 100 to 120 feet. Afterwards, on the path from Lachoong to the Tunkralah, I saw even grander specimens, one of which, as measured by Sir J. Hooker, was over 120 feet high by 28 feet in girth. In these almost pathless forests it is covered with ferns and lichens and forms a graceful pyramidal tree with very drooping branches, and reaches an elevation of about 10,000 feet. On the outer ranges it is not so large, but extends into Bhotan, where Griffith found it from 6500 to 9500 feet. It probably occurs throughout Nepal and in the N.W. Himalaya, as far west as Kumaon, where it is a smaller tree and of little economic value, though in Sikkim the bark is used for roofing huts.
The Himalayan hemlock was introduced into England in 1838, according to Loudon,[4] but is rarely seen, except in a stunted state, with several branching stems, and suffering from the absence of sufficient moisture. Like most of the Himalayan conifers, it grows too early and is injured by spring frosts; but in a few favoured districts of Cornwall and Ireland it seems more at home and has attained considerable size and beauty.
The best specimen that I have seen is at Boconnoc in Cornwall, the seat of J.B. Fortescue, Esq. (Plate 72). This tree measures about 53 feet high by 12 feet in girth near the ground, where it branches into several stems, which spread to about 70 feet in diameter. When I saw it in April 1905 it was covered with cones, from which I have raised many young plants.
There is a rather fine tree at Dropmore, planted in 1847, but not so large or healthy as the one described above; and at Beauport, near Battle, Sussex, there is also a fair specimen.
