This section is from the book "The Standard Cyclopedia Of Horticulture Vol2", by L. H. Bailey. See also: Western Garden Book: More than 8,000 Plants - The Right Plants for Your Climate - Tips from Western Garden Experts.
(from the Greek for beautiful). Including Frenela and Widdringtbnia. P.inaceae. Evergreen trees or shrubs, not quite hardy in the open in England, but thriving well in the southernmost parts of the United States; allied to Thuja.
Leaves scale-like or awl-like, in whorls of 3 or 4 on jointed branches, or sometimes alternate: monoecious; sterile catkins cylindrical or ovoid, the stamens in whorls of 3 or 4, the scales broad and sometimes peltate; fertile cones of 4-8 scales, and borne on short and thick peduncles, either solitary or clustered, usually ripening the second year and often persisting after the seeds have fallen. - About 15 species in Austral., New Caledonia and Africa Little known in cultivation here.
A. Cone 6-valved.
R. Br. (Frenela robusta, Cunn.). Cypress Pine. Ranging from a shrub to a tree 90 ft. high: branchlets crowded, short and erect: sterile catkins 1/4in. or less long, solitary or in 3's: cones solitary or few-clustered, nearly globular, about 1 in. diam.; seeds usually 2-winged. Austral. - Trees about 30 years old are said to be growing at Santa Barbara. In S. Fla. it makes good specimens, in 5 years becoming 10-12 ft. high. The tree somewhat resembles red cedar, and is reported as useful for tall hedges and windbreaks. This is one of the "pines" of Austral., the wood being used in building and for the making of furniture.
R. Br. (Frenela rhomboidea, Endl.). Smaller, reaching 25-50 ft.: branches somewhat slender and often drooping, angled when young: cones usually only one-half the diam. of those of C. robusta, globular, the 6 valves alternately larger and smaller, the larger valves having a broadly rhomboidal apex with a protuberance at the center. Austral, and Tasmania. - Timber used for telegraph poles and in construction.
aa. Cone 4-valved.
Vent. (Thuja articulata, Vahl). Arar-Teee. Sandarach. Gum Tree. Small tree, with fragrant hard durable wood: branches jointed and spreading: leaves very small, flattened, distichous, reduced to scales at the nodes: cone 4-sided, small, the valves oval and with a protuberance near the tip. N. Africa, in the mts. L.B.C. 9:844. - Furnishes varnish resin (gum sandarach).
Whytei, Engler (Widdringtonia Whytei, M. Wood). The wood is dull reddish white, strongly aromatic, and locally used for furniture and for doors and windows. Tree attaining a maximum height of 140 ft., with a diam. of 5 l/2 ft. at a point 6 ft. above the ground, the trunk being clear for 90 ft.: leaves on ultimate branch-lets, deltoid and closely appressed opposite; on other branchlets usually linear-lanceolate, spreading at the tips, alternate: in seedling stage linear, spreading and about 1 in. long: cones 4-6 together, about 3/4in. long and 3/4-l in. wide when open. S. E. Africa - It grows at an altitude of 5,000-7,000 ft. on Mt. Milanji in Nyassaland and is known as the Milanji cypress or cedar. Apparently hardy in parts of Cent. Calif. L H. B.