2296 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



like leading shoot. The branches, in young trees, are disposed in regular 

 whorls from the base to the summit ; but in old trees the lower branches 

 drop off, and the tree terminates in a pyramid of open angular branches, 

 so that the regular whorls only occupy the middle portion of the tree. In 

 young trees, the branches are nearly horizontal; but in old trees they droop 

 gracefully at their extremities; and this pendulous disposition of the branches, 

 joined to the dark sombre green of the leaves, gives to the whole tree 

 somewhat of a gloomy or melancholy aspect. (See /g. 2214,, to a scale 

 of 24 ft. to 1 in.) Between the regular whorls of branches, a few sniall abor- 

 tive shoots appear occasionally. The bark of the trunk is rather thin, 

 warty, and of a reddish brown, becoming wrinkled and scaly on old trees. 

 The roots are spread- 

 ing, without ataproot, 

 and with numerous 

 fibres. The leaves 

 are solitary, of a dark 

 grassy green, gene- 

 rally under 1 in. in 

 length, curved or 

 bent, sharp-pointed, 

 very straight and 

 stiff, and more crowd- 

 ed together laterally 

 than on the upper 

 and under sides of 

 the branchlets. The 

 male catkins are nu- 

 merous, solitary, in 

 pairs, or a few toge- 

 ther ; from ^in. to 

 1 in. in length, on 

 long peduncles; cy- 

 lindrical, generally 

 curved, of a yellow- 

 ish colour, tipped 

 with red ; resem- 

 bling at first a half- 

 ripe strawberry, but 

 gradually lengthen- 

 ing and becoming 

 looser; and, when 

 ripe, discharging a 

 great quantity of yel- 

 low pollen from the anthers. The female catkins are produced at the 

 extremities of the branches; and the cones, as they ripen, become pendent. 

 When in flower, the catkins are red or purplish, and pointed; but they 

 soon take the form of a cone, or, rather, pointed cylinder; their colour 

 then becomes greenish, and this changes, as they ripen, into a rich red- 

 dish brown. In different soils and situations, the colour of the female 

 catkins, when in flower, varies from a dark red or purple to a pale red 

 or yellow, or even to a greenish hue. The ripe cones are from 5 in. 

 to Tin. in length, and from l^in. to 2 in. broad. The scales are rhom- 

 boidal, slightly incurved, and rugged or toothed at the tip, with two seeds 

 in each scale. The seeds are very small, and resemble those of P. syl- 

 vestris; but are sharper-pointed, of a deep reddish brown, and rougher 

 to the touch. In Germany, according to IIai::ig, they are frequently 

 used for adulterating those " of P. sylvestris, as they are obtained from 

 their cones with scarcely any trouble; while those of P. sylvestris require 

 considerable time and labour, and very frequently the employment of a 



