CHAP. cxni. coni'fei?;e. ^bie'tin^e. 2109 



suring its height rather than its breadth, and the production of timber by the 

 preservation of its permanent trunk, rather than of its temporary and com- 

 paratively useless branches. 



The flowers are disposed in catkins : they are unisexual, and those of the 

 male are totally different from those of the female. In most species, botii 

 male and female catkins are on the same tree ; but in Araucdria, as far as 

 that genus is known, the_v are supposed to be on different trees. The male 

 flowers consist of a number of stamens without any floral envelope, but 

 simply accompanied by scales; and are much more numerous than tlie females, 

 as is generally the case in unisexual plants. The pollen from tlie arithers 

 of most species, when ripe, drops on the lower branches in such abiTfidanrc 

 as to change their colour from green to yellow ; and both in the Highlands 

 of Scotland, according to Lightfoot ; and in the V^osges, in the north-east 

 of France, according to Loiseleur Deslongchamps, it has been carried to a 

 distance b}' wind, and has fallen on the ground like a shower of sulphur, to the 

 great terror of the superstitious. The female flowers consist of a pistil, or 

 stigma, enclosed in a simple perianth, or calyx, and accompanied b\' an iu- 

 volucrum composed of one, two, or of several scales. There are in most 

 genera two scales to each flower; an exterior one, which is large and thick, 

 and forms the outer surface of the pine and fir cones ; and an interior one, 

 which springs from the base of the other, and is thin ; and which protects two 

 flowers, that afterwards become two seeds. 



The fruit of the ^bietinje are all cones, which vary somewhat in form, 

 though they are in general, as the word implies, conical ; and they differ in 

 size, from that of J^bies canadensis, which is about half an inch in length, 

 to that of Pinus Lamberti«7/rt, which has been found 2ft. long. The cones 

 which are thickest in proportion to their length are those of P. Pinea, Cedrus, 

 and Araucciria ; that of the latter being almost spherical. The largest of ail 

 the cones known, is that of P. macrocarpa, which is more than 1 ft. in length, 

 and 6 in. in diameter ; and which w eighs about 4 lbs. In some species of 

 Z/arix, the axis of the cone is continued in the form of a shoot; and in Picea 

 bracteata the scales are prolonged in the shape of leaves. In some, as in Cedrus, 

 Pinus Pinea, &c., the scales, or exterior calyxes, of the cones adhere closely 

 together, and, as they ripen, become almost of a woody texture ; in others, as 

 in P. ^'trobus, and in the whole of the species of ^^bies, the scales are loose 

 and open, and of a leathery or soft texture, and may be very easily separated. 

 The seed is readil}' extracted from the latter description of cones, but with 

 difficulty from the former. The cones in some species, as in P. sylvestris, 

 arrive at maturity in the second year ; but in others, as in P. Plnea and 

 the genus Cedrus, not till the third year. In some, they remain on the tree 

 only two years : but in others, as in P. Z'geMa and Cedrus Libani, they re- 

 main on three or four years ; and on P. pungens from ten to twenty years. 



The largest seeds are those of the Pinus Pinea ; and the smallest those 

 of some species of y^bies. The seeds consist of albumen, composed of fari- 

 naceous matter, impregnated with resin and oil; in which the embryo is 

 embedded. This oil has an acrid taste ; but, as it can be removed by 

 roasting, the farinaceous matter which remains may then be eaten like that 

 of other seeds and roots. Hence all the seeds of the ^bietinae may be 

 considered not only as edible, but as highly nutritive. In some species, as 

 the P. Pinea of Europe, and the Araucciria brasiliana of South America, 

 the terebinthinate matter in the seeds is so small, that they may be eaten 

 without roasting ; while on the other hand, in Araucdria imbricata, and in 

 Cedrus Deoddra, it is so great that the seeds are kilndried bj' the collectors 

 of them in the mountains, before being brought down into the plains for sale. 



In germinating, the seed first swells and bursts at the upper or narrow end, 

 whence the radicle proceeds and turns downwards into the soil ; while, soon 

 after, the lower, or thick, part of the seed opens, and the leaves are developed, 

 and rise above the surface of the ground. The seeds in most of the species 

 are polycotyledonous ; but in Cunninghamz'a there are only two cotyledons. 



