148 CONIFEROUS TREES 



distinct but very remarkable form of the Cluster 

 Pine, while at the same time, even under the very 

 best cultivation, it cannot otherwise be described 

 than as an ugly, wretched-looking, and ungainly 

 tree. Some of the oldest specimens I have observed 

 were growing near the remote village of Pentir 

 in Carnarvonshire ; but which, although ample 

 room for development has been allowed them, are 

 no ornament to the position they occupy, and in 

 consequence several have already been removed. 

 The largest hardly exceeded 30 feet in height, 

 and all were remarkable for their contorted and 

 half-dead appearance, caused by the stout, tortuous 

 branches having died back, and yet remained in 

 position for fully half the height of the tree. The 

 immense clusters of small cones adhering to the 

 long dead branches further added to the weird 

 appearance of these pines ; and in several instances 

 I counted fully 60 cones in a single cluster of not 

 more than i foot in length. In some of the 

 cottages these huge clusters of cones were used 

 as ornaments, that portion of the branch on which 

 they grew being inserted in a wooden stand, and 

 the whole varnished over. I counted 65 cones, 

 each fully 2 inches long, in one of these ornamental 

 clusters. Even in colour and shape the cones are 

 exact miniatures of those of the type ; the leaves 

 are only about half as long, and the bark is of a 

 very dark brown colour and flaked. 



P. PiNEA, LinncBus. The Stone or Umbrella 

 Pine of Europe. (Synonym : P. maderiensis, 

 Tenore.) Mediterranean region, Madeira, Canaries. 

 — As usually seen in this country, the Stone Pine 

 forms a low-growing tree, the trunk dividing into 



