462 THE FIH-TKEE FAMILY. 



The Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris, E. B. xxxv. 2460.) is an evergreen tree of con- 

 siderable size, the trunk simple or forked, with reddish hark, and a rather obtuse 

 crown of dark-hued foliage. The leaves are needle-shaped, two to three inches 

 loDg, and gi'ow in pairs ; the cones, well known to children, are an inch and a 

 half long, and when ripe, and lying on the ground, where they may be seen in 

 profusion, have their large brown scales curved widely outwards. Looked at 

 from a little distance, as across the sward of Dunham Park, when the rays of the 

 setting sun light up the red-barked stems and branches, the contrast of the dark 

 foliage is fine and unique, as that of the tree itself with all others. The appear- 

 ance of our mountain districts is considerably inlluenced by the extent to which 

 it has been planted. Large square or oblong platoons, belts, and irregular 

 masses, so disposed as to give shelter to farms, ai-e common. Inside, however, 

 they are gloomy, presenting monotonous ranges of tall straight poles, while the 

 ground is strewed with the dead brown needles and decaying cones. 



The Larch (Larix Europcea) is a tree equal in stature to the Scotch fir, but of 

 widely different feature, and singularly graceful. The branches, which begin from 

 near the ground, bend downwards in elegant concaves, producing innumerable 

 slender twigs, which are thickly covered with little tufts of light-green leaves 

 about an inch in length. The clusters of male flowers are about half an inch 

 long, very numerous, solitary, and sessile along the twigs ; the females grow in 

 very beautiful rose-coloured cones, cotemporaneouB with the new foliage, and 

 which afterwards become brown, the scales thin, blunt, and remaining erect, as in 

 the figure (9i'4). In one variety the stem is continued beyond the cone to the 

 length of two or three inches. The leaves fall in autumn, so that in winter the 

 tree is naked. 



The third of the three common species, the Norway Spruce-fir, or Abies excelsa, 

 is immediately distinguished by its leaves growing singly, and spreachng equally 

 round the twigs ; also by its very long, cylindrical and pendent cones, with blunt, 

 upright and wavy scales. When growing singly, it is one of the most charming 

 of its tribe, the long drooping branches touching the earth, and the general shape 

 of the tree being that of a fine pyramid. 



The singularly ornamental and picturesque forms of the Coniferffi, their rapid 

 growth, and evergreen cheerfulness, have long rendered them especial favourites for 

 pleasure-grounds. At the delightful and romantic residence of E. H. Greg, Esq., 

 Norclifi'e, near Styal,* the botanist and lover of nature may admire a collection of 

 upwards of forty species and varieties, the specimens for the most part fine and 

 promising. The broken and precipitous character of the ground; the soil, which 

 is principally a well-drained marly clay ; and the aspect, are aU eminently con- 



• Very liberally open to the public on application by letter, either to Mr. Greg, 

 or to his intelligent and skilful hoad-ganlcner, Mr. McLaren, to whoso courtesy 

 I am indebted, not only for the following list of names, but, along with many 

 friends, for much pleasure and valualilo information, especially respecting 

 Conifers, on various occasions of visits to Norcliffe. (See " Manchester Walks 

 and Wild-flowers." p. 100.) 



