SOME CURIOUS VEGETABLE GROWTHS. 



3 1 



ure is not, perhaps, wholly unparalleled, but another most curious fact 

 is that the two largest of the side-trunks are connected with the prin- 

 cipal stem by sub-quadrangular braces resembling girders. These 

 beams have probably been formed by an anastomosing of branches, 



Fiq. 1. The Fir-tree or Alliaz. (From a sketch by Madame A. Pire.) 



which, common enough among angiosperms, is extremely rare among 

 conifers ; but it has been impossible to ascertain the manner in which 

 the ingrowing of one branch into the other has been effected. The 



