HARDY CONIFEROUS TREES 143 



to attract attention, the quality of that produced 

 in two widely different parts of this country being 

 such as to warrant us in speaking highly of it. 

 The tree is very hardy, several of the healthiest 

 specimens I have seen being in the environs of 

 Edinburgh. A variety with stouter and broader 

 leaves and having the young cones purple instead 

 of pale green as in the species, has been named 

 P, monticola porphyrocarpa, Murray. 



P. MURICATA, Don. (Synonym : P. Edgariana, 

 Hartweg.) California. 1846. — This is a very 

 distinct tree, not only from the massive well- 

 rounded top, but on account of the large and 

 uniformly arranged branches, which in most 

 specimens break out from the main stem at a few 

 feet from ground level. The thickly clustered, 

 prickly cones, which adhere so firmly to the stem 

 and branches that a good knock is required to 

 free them, are unlike those of almost any other 

 species, and form a speedy means of identification. 

 They persist for many years, and being arranged 

 in whorls around both stem and branches, have a 

 very unusual and curious appearance. The leaves 

 are fully 4 inches long, bluntly pointed, and slightly 

 serrated on the margins. For planting on rocky 

 ground or even on poor sandy soils, this pine is 

 valuable, but it wants protection from rough 

 winds, as it is apt to get uprooted, the head being 

 heavy in proportion to the height and root-spread. 



P. OOCARPA, Schiede. (Synonyms : P. oocar- 

 poides, Lindley ; P. Skinneri, Hort.) Mexico, 

 Guatemala. 1838. — This is a beautiful species, 

 much after the Mexican P. Montezumce, but un- 

 fortunately it is not sufficiently hardy to withstand 



