2218 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



J P. P. 11. Massonianus, P. Massoniaiia Lamb., 2 ed., 1. t. 8., to be noticed 

 bereafter, Professor Don considers as only P. Pinaster, which we 

 think ver}- probable. 

 The only varieties of pinaster which we think worth cultivating are 



P. P. escareniis ; and P. P. hemonidnus, and, for those who like variegated 



plants, P. P. folds variegiitis. 



Dcsd'iption. A large, handsome, pyramidal tree, varying from 40 ft. to 

 60 ft. in height, according to soil and situation ; readily distinguished from 

 all other pines by the large clustered masses of foliage," of a much lighter 

 lan that of P. Laricio, which alternate with naked spaces, on the 



green tha 



extremities of its branches. The 

 trunk, even of young trees, is 

 clothed with a deeply furrowed 

 coarse bark, especially towards 

 the base, where it generally in- 

 clines to one side, from the weight 

 of the top, when the tree is quite 

 young. The branches are in re- 

 gular whorls, and invariably turn 

 upwards. The groups of cones 

 point outwards in star-like clus- 

 ters ; whence the name of pin 

 aster, or star pine. The male 

 catkins, which are, on dry soils, 

 produced when the tree is only 

 6 or 8 years old, are of a yellow 

 or fawn colour, sometimes slight- 

 ly tinged with red ; they are more 

 numerous, generally occupying a 

 space of from 4 in. to 6 in. or 

 more in length, round the base 

 of the shoot of the current year. 

 When these male catkins drop 

 off, the space they occupied is 

 left bare; and hence the alter- 

 nation already mentioned, of tufts 

 of foliage and bare places, on 

 the extremities of the branches; 

 and which are so much more conspicuous on this pine than on any other 

 European species, from the greater number of catkins produced, and the 

 greater length of the leaves. The female catkins appear in whorls on 

 the extremities of the shoots of the current year; and are at first purple, 

 but afterwards change to green, and, when they attain maturity, in the 

 autumn of the second year, become of a rich shining brown. The pyra- 

 midal termination to the scales of the cones is always much larger, and 

 more prominent, on the upper side of the cone than on the under side, and 

 on that side of the tree which is exposed to the sun, than on that which is in 

 the shade. There is a more decided taproot in this pine than in any other 

 European species; and, where the soil is dry and sandy, it descends perpen- 

 dicularly into it, like the root of a broad-leaved tree. In proportion as the 

 perpendicular roots are stronger than those of other pines, the horizontal 

 roots are weaker ; and hence, in the case of transplanted trees, from the 

 weight of the head, produced by the dense mass of long foliage, the stem 

 is generally inclined to one side; and when, after two or three years, it begins 

 to grow erect, a curvature appears close above the root, which remains visible 

 even in old trees. The rate of growth is very rapid ; jjlants, in 10 years from 

 the seed, attaining the height of 10 ft. or 12 ft., and, in twenty years, the height 

 of 30 ft., in the climate of London. The wood is in thick layers, soft, and not 

 of great duration. The finest pinaster in the neigiibourhood of London is 



