Pinus i o 1 1 



PIN US EXCELS A, Himalayan Blue Pine 



Pinus excelsa, Wallich, List 6059 (1828), and PI. As. Par. iii. t. 201 (1832); Loudon, Arb. et Prut. 



Brit. iv. 2285 (1838); Forbes, Pine/. Woburn. 75, t. 29 (1839); Masters, Gard. Chron. xix. 



244, figs. 32, 35 (1883), and Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bo/.), xxxv. 581 (1904); Lawson, Pine/. Bri/. 



i. 27, t. 4 (1884); Hooker, Ft Brit India, v. 651 (1888) ; Kent, Veitch's Man. Conifera, 328 



(1900); Gamble, Man. Indian Timbers, 704 (1902); Brandis, Indian Trees, 689 (1906); 



Clinton-Baker, Illus/. Conif. i. 20 (1909). 

 Pinus nepalensis, De Chambray, Traiii Prat. Arb. Ris. Conif. 312 (1845). 

 Pinus pendula, Griffith, Journals, 211, 237, 239, 264, 265, 287, 293 (1847). 

 Pinus Griffithii, M'Clelland, in Griffith, Notul. iv. 17 (1854), and Icon. PI. Asiai. iv. t. 365 (1854). 



A tree, attaining in the Himalayas 150 ft. in height and 12 ft. in girth. 

 Branches widely spreading ; branchlets upturned at their tips. Bark greyish brown, 

 smooth on young trees, ultimately Assuring into small regular plates. Buds conical, 

 elongated, shortly acuminate ; the long subulate points of the scales either free or 

 appressed together with resin. Young branchlets glaucous, smooth, glabrous, turning 

 olive green in winter, and dark grey in the second year. 



Leaves in fives, persisting for three years, 5 to 8 in. long, spreading, often 

 bent near the base, as if broken ; slender, scarcely curved or twisted, serrulate, 

 sharp -pointed, marked with stomatic lines on the three surfaces ; resin -canals 

 marginal ; basal sheath f in. long, early deciduous. 



Cones solitary or two to three together, erect when young, pendulous in the 

 second year on stalks \\ to 2 in. long ; cylindrical, 6 to 10 in. long, light brown when 

 mature. Scales elongated -cuneate, about 1^ in. long, 1 in. broad at the widest 

 part ; apophysis longitudinally channelled, convex from side to side, and thickened 

 in the centre, with rounded thin upper margin, and short pointed terminal 

 dark coloured umbo. Seed ovoid, brown, | to -^ in. long ; wing in. long, f in. 

 wide, very oblique on the outer side, light brown, streaked with darker brown 

 wavy lines. Cotyledons 8 to 12. 



This species is readily distinguishable from all the other pines with five leaves 

 and a deciduous sheath, by its glabrous glaucous branchlets. 



Striped ' and one-leafed 2 sports, arising in cultivation, have been described ; 

 but appear to be unknown in England. 



Distribution 



This species, 8 known as the blue pine in India, is a native of the temperate 

 Himalayas, at 6000 to 12,500 feet elevation, extending westward to Afghanistan and 

 Kafiristan, and eastward to Nepal, but has not been seen in central and north-west 

 Kumaon. It has not been found in Sikkim, but is common in Bhutan. 4 According to 



1 Var. zebrina, Croux, in Rev. Hort., 1889, p. 392, fig. 101. Leaves marked an inch below the apex with a cream-coloured 

 band. Originated at Sceaux in France. 



* Var. monophylla, Carriere, Conif. 398 (1867). Each sheath with apparently only one leaf, all the five leaves being 

 welded together. 



' It was first collected by Buchanan-Hamilton near Narainhetty, in Nepal. 



4 Hooker and Thomson, Ft. Indica, Introductory Essay, 178, 181 (1855), and Griffith, fourn. Mission Bootan in 

 1837-1838, p. 129. 



