338 Bibliographical Notices. 



altitude at which it was discovered proves it to be very hardy, and 

 the early period at which the seed ripens, which I noticed and de- 

 scribed as a peculiarity of the P. uncinata in my original descrip- 

 tion of that tree, I consider to indicate the same quality. We must 

 for these reasons, as well as the size the tree attains and the quality 

 of its timber, assign it the very first rank in the family, and its in- 

 troduction to our parks and forests, both for ornament and utility, 

 is most desirable. 



No. 3 appears to be a variety of spruce, to which the inappro- 

 priate name of P. orientalis has been given ; why not caucasica ? 

 The author first noticed it in the loftiest mountains of Imeritia, and 

 Nordmann has since observed it in Upper Mingrelia, and forming 

 whole forests between Guriel and the Adshar mountains. 



The foliage is shorter by one half than that of the common spruce, 

 and the spicule are quadrangular like those of that species ; sharp, 

 but not prickly ; not binary as Tournefort asserts, but grow singly 

 as in the common spruce. 



It is a lofty, and, from the elevated sites at which it was observed, 

 is no doubt a hardy and desirable tree, but from the observation of 

 the timber, compared with that of A. Nordmanni, must be considered 

 as less valuable than that magnificent species. Neither the Pinus 

 Abies (Lin.) nor any species of larch have yet been discovered in the 

 Caucasus. 



Pinus. 



1 . Is the P. maritima of Lambert, one of the varieties of P. halepen- 

 5W,and that which I consider to be the more hardy of the three; it grows 

 on the shores of Abshasia, near Pezundan, the ancient Pithyus. 



2. " P. Laricio constitutes forests on the western summits of 

 Tauria, descending even to the shores, but never passing to the north- 

 ern declivities. The author also has specimens from Gelindshik, a 

 port on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, 100 leagues distant from 

 the mouths of the Hypanis." 



We cannot say that the observations on this species are at all sa- 

 tisfactory. P. Pallasiana, or taurica of our catalogues, would seem 

 to be considered as identical with P. Pinaster, and with the species 

 we have under the name of P. Laricio. Such however appears to 

 be the meaning of the text, and as he considers that P. austriaca 

 is another synonym, we shall have Laricio, Pinaster, P. taurica and 

 austriaca as one species, a position which is not only inadmissible, 

 but so extraordinary as only to be accounted for by the want of op- 

 portunities for studying the respective species. 



