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only one in cultivation, and grows on the banks of streams in sub-alpine regions in Yezo and Hondo,
2. Var. Szedoldiana, Winkler, loc. cet. Alnus Sieboldiana, Matsumura.
- Branchlets glabrous. Lateral nerves twelve to fifteen pairs. Cones solitary, 1 inch long. A native of the sea-coast in Hondo.
3. Var. yasha, Winkler, loc. cit. Alnus yasha, Matsumura.
- Branchlets pubescent. Lateral nerves twelve to fifteen pairs. Cones solitary or racemose, ¾ inch long. Occurs in mountain woods in Kiusiu, Shikoku, and Hondo.
According to Sargent, Alnus firma is largely planted along the borders of rice- fields near Tokyo, to afford support for the poles on which the freshly cut rice is hung to dry. He observed var. mudtinervis on the mountains of Hondo, where it grows on dry rocky soil and reaches 5000 feet elevation, and describes it as a graceful tree 20 to 30 feet in height. The species, as mentioned above under the varieties, is widely distributed throughout the whole of Japan.
It was introduced by Sargent into New England in 1892; and, according to Winkler, was brought by Zabel into the forest garden of Miinden in Germany. There are trees 6 to 10 feet in height in the collection at Kew. It is a remarkably distinct species, with plicate many-nerved leaves, recalling those of two other Japanese trees, viz.: Carpinus japonica and Acer carpinifolium; and is worthy of a place in collections of shrubs, as it scarcely can be considered to be a tree. (A.H.)
ALNUS JAPONICA, Japanese Alder
- Alnus japonica, Siebold et Zuccarini, Abh, Akad. München, iv. 3, p. 320 (1845); Sargent, Garden and Forest, vi. 343, f. 53 (1893), and Forest Flora, Japan, 63, t. 20 (1894); Shirasawa, Icon. Ess. Forest. Japon, text 38, t. 19, ff. 18-34 (1900); Winkler, Betulaceæ, 114 (1904).
- Alnus maritima, Nuttall, var. japonica, Regel, in DC. Prod. xvi. 2, p. 186 (1868).
- Alnus maritima, Nuttall, var. formosana, Burkill, Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xxvi. 500 (1899).
A tree attaining about 80 feet in height. Young branchlets usually glabrous. Leaves (Plate 268, Fig. 12) about 4 inches long and 1½ to 1¾ inch wide, lanceolate or narrowly elliptical, cuneate at the base, long-acuminate at the apex; margin not lobulate, finely serrate ; nerves, about twelve pairs, mostly running to the margin ; upper surface dark green, shining, pubescent on the midrib and nerves ; lower surface light green, glabrous except for minute axil-tufts; petiole about ½ inch, slightly pubescent. Buds minute, stalked, glabrous, glandular.
Flowers,! appearing in spring, the fruit ripening in autumn; otherwise similar to Alnus maritima.
This species occurs in Japan, Manchuria, Korea, and Formosa. In Manchuria? it grows along the sea-coast from St. Olga Bay southwards, and also inland, either solitary or in groups, in sandy soil along the rivers. It has been collected in Korea
1 In Formosa, according to Burkill, the flowers are produced later, in summer; and he adduces this as a reason for
uniting this species with the American A. maritima.
2 Komarov, Flora Manshuriæ, ii. 60 (1904).