2204 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART Til. 



found in Hungary, in the Hartwold in Leimerslachle, in Germany ; and it 

 abounds on Caucasus, and in the south of Russia, and probably generally 

 throughout the south of Europe, and great part of the west and north of Asia. 

 It does not appear to grow on the very poorest soils, or at very great eleva- 

 tions ; and to require a deeper soil than P, sylvestris. 



History. The Corsican pine was scarcely known in France, as a distinct 

 species, in the time of Du Hamel ; and was subsequently, according to Bosc, 

 confounded by authors with the Pinus sylvestris, under the name of P. s, altis- 

 sima; and with the Pinus marltima (our P. Pinaster), under the name of P. 

 m. Pinaster; from its, in fact, holding a middle place between these two species. 

 The name of P. Larlcio was first given to it by Poiret, in the Dictionnaire Ency- 

 clopedique ; and it was subsequently adopted by De Candolle, in the Flore 

 Francaise. P. Larlcio was introduced into England under the name of P. syl- 

 vestris 7j maritima in 1759; and that name was adopted by Alton, in the first 

 edition of the Hortus Kewensis ; and afterwards changed, in the second edition, 

 to P. maritima. The name of P. Laricio was first adopted in Britain in 1822, 

 in consequence of the description, by Professor Don, of a tree in the Paris 

 Garden, being published under that name in an Appendix to Neill's Horti- 

 cultural Tour through France and the Netherlands. Seeds were soon after 

 imported by Mr. Malcolm, from M. Vilmorin, and a number of plants raised, 

 which have been distributed throughout tlie country, though we are not aware 

 that they have been planted any where in large masses. In France, according 

 to Mordant de Launay, as quoted by Delamarre, P. Laricio first attracted the 

 notice of government under the ministry of Turgot, in the time of Louis XVI. ; 

 and the fine tree in the Paris Garden was planted where it now stands in the 

 year 1774, being then several years old. The government had great diffi- 

 culty in procuring seeds from its agents in Corsica : the cones being produced 

 only in small quantities, and at the summits of the trees, it was difficult, and 

 even dangerous, to gather them ; and this circumstance tempted the dealers 

 in these seeds to mix them with those of P. Pinaster, which they could pro- 

 cure with facility. In 1788, the Corsican pines began to be employed for 

 masts for the French navy ; and, when the trees were cut down, the cones 

 were easily gathered. The late Andre Thouin was employed by the French 

 government, about the year 1814, to draw up directions for cultivating this tree, 

 which were printed and published, together with an account of its properties 

 and uses in Corsica, and a strong recommendation for its culture in France.. 

 Nevertheless, the seed not having been procured in sufficient quantities, grafting 

 was resorted to, in the year 1822 ; and M. Larminat (as we have seen, p. 2130.) 

 grafted many thousands of P. Laricio on P. sylvestris in the Forest of Fon- 

 tainebleau. Since that time, this pine has been strongly recommended for cul- 

 ture by M. Vilmorin, who has planted all the varieties of it extensively on his 

 estate at Barres, and sujiplied all the principal seedsmen of Europe with 

 seeds. It succeeds well in Scotland, even in the Highlands. 



Properties and Uses. According to M. Thouin, the timber of P. Laricio 

 is somewhat heavier than that of the P. sylvestris brought from Riga ; but, 

 being more resinous, it is less brittle and more elastic. Other authors assure 

 us, on the contrary, sa^s Baudrillart, that the wood of P. Laricio has neither 

 the strength nor the elasticity of that of P. sylvestris. Previously to the 

 year 1788, the wood was only used by the French government for the beams, 

 the flooring, and the side planks of ships ; but, in that year, the administration 

 of the marine sent two engineers to examine the forests of Lonca and Rospa 

 in Corsica, in which al)undance of trees were found fit for masts. After this, 

 entire vessels were built with it : only it was found necessary to give greater 

 thickness to the masts, in order to supply its want of strengtii and elasticity. 

 The thickness of the sap wood in P. Laricio is greater than in most other 

 species of pine ; but the heart wood is found to be of very great duration. 

 In (Corsica, it is employed for all the purposes for which it is used, when of 

 3G or 40 years' growth. It is easily worked, and is used both by cabinet- 

 makers and sculptors in wood ; the figures which ornament the heads of ves- 

 sels being generally made of it. In Britain, the tree hitherto can only be 



