the long leaf-like bracts, are covered with globules of thin transparent resin. Douglas was mistaken in saying that this tree does not occur below 6000 feet elevation; on the contrary, it is found as low as 3000 feet, where it meets Taxodium sempervirens.”
In 1856 another expedition to collect seeds was made by W. Beardsley, who gives a good account of his journey, which is quoted from by Murray.’ In the middle of October the seeds were already shed, and Murray says that Mr. W. Peebles, who went for the same purpose on September 17, 1858, found the cones so ripe that when the tree was felled they fell to pieces.
According to Beardsley, the soil on which it grows is ‘exclusively the calcareous districts, abounding with ledges of white, veined, and grey marble.”
Cultivation
A. bracteata has never been a common tree in English gardens and, owing to the difficulty of procuring seeds in California, it is rarely to be had from nurseries. It seems to be quite hardy as regards winter cold, but susceptible to spring frosts ; and all the good specimens I have seen are in sheltered and rather elevated situations on well drained soil.
The seedlings which I have raised from English-grown seeds have not thriven on my soil, though the tree does not appear to dislike a moderate amount of lime. All the best specimens we know of are in the south and west of England, and in Ireland. A list of them is given by Kent,’ and they all are probably of about the same age, being raised from William Lobb’s seeds by Messrs. Veitch in 1854.
Remarkable Trees
The finest trees in England are in the valley of the Severn, the largest being at Eastnor Castle (Plate 224), where two are growing. They were stated® by the late Mr. Coleman to have been planted in 1865, and the best of them was 40 feet high in 1889. It first bore cones in 1888; when I measured it last in 1908, I found it to be 78 feet by 9 feet, and though very healthy and handsome in appearance, the top had become forked. It bore cones freely in 1900, from which I raised numerous seedlings, but these have grown very slowly, and do not seem able to make roots freely on my soil.
At Highnam Court, Gloucester, the seat of Sir Hubert Parry, there is another fine tree, difficult to measure on account of its situation, but, in 1908, I made it 64 feet by 6 feet 5 inches. It has several times produced cones, four being borne in 1907, from which seedlings were raised.
At Tortworth Court there is a tree which Lord Ducie believes to have been planted between 1858 and 1862, and in 1908 was 63 feet by 6 feet. It is growing on old red sandstone, about 250 feet above sea level in a situation much exposed to the south-west wind.
1 Edin. New Phil. Journ. x, 1, pls. ' and 2 (1859).
2 Veitch’s Man. Coniferæ, loc. cit.
3 Garden, 1889, xxxv. 12.
