46 PINES 



In the Pinaster group only one whorl of branchlets, 

 buds, and cones appear, and those approximate 

 towards the end, or, in other words, sub-terminally, 

 of each year's shoot. These are botanically described 

 as uni-nodal as opposed to multi-nodal. 



P. EcHiNATA, OR MiTis. — ^Tliis is a Pine which one 

 generation, or school of thought, called Echinata, and 

 another generation fixed upon for a name the word 

 Mitis. Echinata literally means either one or two 

 things. 



To a landsman the first translation "hedgehog*' 

 would, in all probability, satisfy his thirst for know- 

 ledge, while to a mariner or dweller by the seashore the 

 second translation "sea urchin," a little frequenter 

 of the salt-water element, would probably most 

 strongly appeal. Both of them are prickly-backed 

 representatives of the created world, and that is the 

 main issue before us. 



Such a name conveys to all the impression that 

 the tree in question has prickly points somewhere 

 in his composition, in common with the members of 

 the Echinoderm family. While the other name 

 bestowed, " Mitis," denotes a substance that spells 

 softness. It seems a curious coincidence that this 

 tree should be alternately called after two phases of 

 nature possessed of two such opposite and contradic- 

 tory attributes and qualifications as a hedge-pig's 

 quills and a feather-bed mattress respectively recall. 



How the rough places became smooth, and why 

 the smooth places were called rough, is a bewildering 

 enigma at first sight. As a matter of fact the leaves 

 of this Pine are notoriously soft, and the cones have 

 prickles like a great many other cones, but rather 

 less than more aggressive than many others that we 

 could mention — the P. Pungens of the same group, to 

 wit. 



