406 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFER.E 



yellowish brown, prominently ridged, with leaf-bases persisting 

 for several years on the older leafless branchlets. Buds 

 cylindrical, \-\ in. long, abruptly contracted to a sharp point, 

 scales light brown, resinous. Leaves in pairs, persisting about 4 

 years, less dense on the branchlets than in the Austrian pine but 

 more flexible than in that variety, bending when lightly tapped 

 at the apex ; stout, straight or curved, often twisted, -46 in. 

 long, margins minutely toothed, apex a thickened, horny point ; 

 12-14 lines of stomata on each surface, resin canals median, 

 basal sheath about \ in. long, becoming shorter on old leaves. 

 Cones tawny-yellow, solitary or in clusters, sub-sessile, ovoid-conic, 

 2-3 in. long, 1 in. wide before opening ; scales about 1 in. long, 

 transversely keeled near the apex, which often terminates in a 

 more or less persistent prickle. Seed greyish or brownish, more 

 or less mottled, about J in. long, with a wing several times its 

 length. 



P. Laricio is a very variable species, including several geo- 

 graphical forms, some of which differ from the type in habit and 

 density of foliage. The above description refers to the typical 

 form common in Corsica, named by Loudon var. corsicana. The 

 species may generally be distmguished amongst two-leaved 

 pines by its yellowish-brown shoots, stout leaves, ovoid, abruptly 

 pointed buds, and tawny-yellow cones. 



P. Laricio is widely distributed in S. Europe from Spain 

 to the Crimea and Caucasus, and in Asia Minor to the Taurus 

 Mountains. 



Henry considers the various geographical forms of this species 

 can be divided into two main geographical groups characterized 

 as follows : 



I. Leaves broad, rigid, owing to the presence of several 

 layers of hypoderm under the epidermis. Leaves more persistent 

 than in Section 11. 



Var. nigricans, Parlatore. 

 Austrian Pene. 



P. Laricio, var. austriaca, Endlicher ; P. austriaca, Hoess. 



Leaves not or scarcely twisted, resin canals numerous 

 (averaging 11), with 14-16 stomatic Unes on each surface. Com- 

 mon in Austria, Servia, and Hungary. 



In the British Isles this name is given to a tree with stout 

 branches bearing dense masses of foUage. The timber is coarser 

 and more knotty than that of the Corsican variety. As a 

 shelter tree it is of considerable importance, for it succeeds in 

 very poor soil and on limy soil, in positions fully exposed to 

 the sea. 



