CHAP. CX.

CASUARA CEAE.

2061

tus Grand-Duke of Saxe-Weimar. The species ofCasuarina here alluded towas sent to Weimar origin-ally under the name of Ca-suarina equisetifolia Linn.;and was, in the year 1810,but a very small shrub, notmore than 3 ft. high, andthe trunk three fourths ofan inch in diameter. In thatyear, it was planted in theopen air, in good soil, con-taining a portion of calca-reous matter, the substra-tum of the country being ofthat nature. It was soplaced as to receive the fullinfluence of the sun in sum-mer, and to be protectedfrom the northern andeastern winds. In thewinter, it was covered witha temporary building, which

was warmed by fire, so ___

as to exclude the frost.

The height of the tree, in 1818, was 16 ft. 6 in., the circumference of thehead 42 ft., and that of the trunk nearly 20 in. Near to this tree wasanother, which was planted in 1813. It was sent from Paris to Weimarin a flower-pot, and was then a very small shrub. In 1818, it had alreadyreached the height of 8 ft., and the trunk was nearly 2 in. in diameter.The larger tree flowered in 1818, but without producing any seed, beingevidently a dioecious plant. With regard to the botanical character of thiscasuarina some doubts have arisen. It does not seem to be the speciesusually called equisetifolia. The Belvedere plant appeared, in 1818, to beclearly dioecious : it was covered with male flowers, and not a single femalewas to be seen. Whether this arose from the circumstance that, in monoeciousplants, one set of flowers sometimes so strongly predominates as to renderthe other imperceptible, and that a sort of equality between the two sets offlowers only takes place as the plant advances in age; or that the plant inquestion was not C. equisetifdlia, but another species of the genus, which isdioecious; is uncertain.

C. nodifibra Forst. Prod., No. 335., Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 190. 'Moncecious. Branchlets erect, te-tragonal. Scales of the strobiles unarmed, glabrous. Sheaths of the male 4-cleft, glabrous. Atree,15 ft. high ; a native of New Caledonia. Introduced in 1823.

C. distyla Vent. Cels., t. 62., Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 191. Dioecious. Branchlets erect, round. Scalesof the strobiles unarmed, ciliated. Sheaths of the male 7-cleft, somewhat ciliated. Flowers 2-styled.A tree, 15 ft. high ; a native of New Holland. Introduced in 1812.

C. stricta Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 320., Willd. Sp. PI., 4. 'p. 190., Bot. Rep., t. 346. Dioecious.Branchlets erect, furrowed. Scales of the strobiles unarmed, smoothish. Sheaths of the male mul-tifid, glabrous. A tree, a native of New Holland. Introduced in 1775, by Messrs. Kennedy and Lee.It flowers in November and December. There is a plant in the Horticultural Society’s Garden,which has stood against a conservative wall since 1830 ; and there are plants at Messrs. Loddiges’s.

C. toruldsa Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 320., Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 191. The cork-barked Casuarina.Dioecious. Branchlets weak. Scales of the strobiles villous, tuberculate, rough. Sheaths of the male4-cleft. A large tree, a native of Holland. Introduced in 1772, by Sir Joseph Banks. There areplants at Messrs. Loddiges’s.

Culture, Sfc. As all the above species are probably equally hardy, wewould recommend as many of them as possible to be got, and planted in warmsituations, in dry, sandy, pine or fir woods, where they would be thoroughlysheltered. The pines should be at least 6 ft. or 8 ft. higher than the casua-rinas; but their branches should never be allowed to come nearer them thanwithin 2 ft. or 3 ft.; and the roots of the pine trees, on the side next thecasuarina, should be cut off annually with a spade. As the casuarina in-