THE TRUE PINES. 219 



when dried and pounded becomes a kind of ash-coloured pow- 

 der, very sweet, and eaten by the inhabitants instead of sugar. 

 It will no doubt be quite hardy. 



No. 62. Pinun Oembra, Linn., the Swiss Stone Pine. 

 Syn. Pinus v>inbra Helvetica, Loddiges. 

 „ „ „ vulgaris, Endllcher. 



„ „ „ striata, Hort. 



„ „ INIontana, Lamarch. 

 „ „ sativa, Amann. 

 „ „ sylvestris Cembra, Matthiola. 

 „ „ „ altera, Dodon. 



Leaves, in fives, from two to three inches long, sharp- 

 pointed, three-ribbed, one of them green and shining, and the 

 other two white and opaque. Sheaths, deciduous. Buds, 

 broad, globose, with a long narrow point, whitish, without 

 resin, and mostly solitary at the end of the shoots. Cones, 

 about three inches long, and two inches and a half broad, ovate, 

 erect, and of a violet colour. Scales, one inch broad, and the 

 same in the widest part, slightly hooked, and not thickened at 

 the point, but blunt ; those nearest the base much smaller and 

 recurved. Seeds, very large, wingless, and eaten in Swit- 

 zerland. 



An erect tree, of a bluntish pyramidal shape, regularly fur- 

 nished with branches down to the ground, thickly clothed with 

 foliage, and attaining a height of fifty feet. Timber very 

 soft, but very fine in the grain ; fragrant and resinous. 



This tree is found in the highest regions of the Alps, from 

 the Tyrol to Mount Cenis, between 4,000 and 6,500 feet of 

 elevation. It is also found on the northern slope of the Alps, 

 from Austria to Savoy, and Dauphine, and occurs on the Car- 

 pathian Mountains, and on the Altai. The varieties are from 

 Eastern Siberia. 



