314 THE FLORIST. 



NEW CONIFEROUS TREES. 



PINUS BEARDSLEYI. 



Description. — Leaves in threes, about 6 inches long, firm, numerous, 

 roughened by projecting points along the midrib and edges, the points directed 

 to the tip of the leaf. Sheath short, about an eighth of an inch in length, 

 coarse and corrugated. Cones growing on a short peduncle, aggregated round 

 the branch, generally from 3 to 5 ; 3 inches long, and H across, or nearly 

 5 in circumference at the broadest part, of a somewhat prolonged elliptical 

 shape, and the difference in the appearance of the scales on the outer and 

 inner side of the cone is trifling. Scales an inch long, with a not very 

 prominent apophysis. The medial line, crossing the exposed part of the 

 scale, generally runs across the middle, A thin small sharp hooped prickle, 

 nearly a line in length, points towards the base of the cone. Seeds winged 

 with a speckled sperraoderm about H line in length, wings 7-8ths of an inch 

 in length, pale brown, semi-transparent, darker at the tip, and with brown 

 streaks running longitudinally. 



The tree is of great beauty and size. One which was cut down 

 measured 123 feet in height, and 44 inches in diameter at the stump ; 

 another tree near it measured 17 feet 4 inches in circumference at 

 three feet from the ground. The stem was a very handsome column 

 of 30 feet to the first branch — timber good and clear. It was found 

 on top of a mountain, at from 5000 to 6000 feet, in lat. 41^ N., at 

 the same altitude as Pinus Jeffreyi and monticola, and Abies grandis ; 

 and higher than P. Benthamiana and Lambertiana. Ihis and the 

 following species (Craigiana) seem to have more affinity with P. 

 Benthamiana than any other described species ; but the present species 

 has the points of the umbo of the scale pointing towards the base of the 

 cone, while in Benthamiana they point to the tip ; the cone of 

 Benthamiana is 5 inches long, while Beardsleyi is only 3 inches. 

 The leaves are 11 inches in length, while in Beardsleyi they are only 6. 

 The sheath in the leaf of Benthamiana is an inch long, while in 

 Beardsleyi it is only the eighth of an inch. The wing of the seed in 

 Benthamiana is much larger and longer than that of Beardsleyi. The 

 timber of Beardsleyi is homogeneous all through. The heart of 

 Benthamiana is redder than the sapwood, and the sapwood occupies a 

 great breadth of the stem. Beardsleyi grows much farther up the 

 mountains than Benthamiana. There is also some resemblance between 

 this Pine (Beardsleyi) and P. ponderosa, as was well suggested to me 

 by Dr. Lindley ; but the shape of the cone, and the size and shape of 

 the seed and wing sufficiently distinguish it. In P. ponderosa the 

 cone tapers to both ends, while in this it tapers to the point. Its seed 

 does not appear to be speckled in any figure I have seen, while this is. 

 The sheath in the leaf in P. ponderosa is smooth, longish, fine, and 

 tightly fitting ; whereas in this it is short, corrugated, and rough, and 

 the leaf of ponderosa is nearly twice as long, being 9 to 1 1 inches in 

 length, in place of 6 inches. Its leaf also wants (or nearly so) the 

 projecting points which roughen that of Beardsleyi, so that the leaves 

 can be distinguished by the feel, or drawing them forward between 

 the fingers. 



