1068 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



much in habit ' from P. Sabiniana, always having a straight undivided stem, with wide 

 spreading branches, forming a broad pyramid of foliage. 



This species was discovered by Coulter 2 in the Santa Lucia mountains in 1832 ; 

 and in the same year Douglas sent home specimens with seeds, from which plants 

 were raised in the garden of the Horticultural Society. Young plants were raised 8 

 at Kew in 1840 from the seed of a cone, the origin of which is not stated. A further 

 consignment of seed was sent home by William Lobb 4 in 185 1. 



P. Coulteri is rare in cultivation, and the finest specimens appear to be in Herts, 

 where a tree at St. Cross, Hoddesdon, planted by Miss Warner in 1857 (Plate 279), 

 bore twenty large cones in December 1908, and measured, according to Mr. Clinton- 

 Baker, 80 ft. in height and 9 1 ft. in girth, but Elwes, who measured it carefully 

 in February 1909, only made it 74 ft. by 9 ft. 4 in. Its branches, one of which is 

 36 ft. long, sweep the ground. At The Frythe, Welwyn, a tree, 56 ft. by 8 ft., 

 bore cones in 1906, and had a few old cones persistent on the stem. At Youngsbury, 

 Ware, a tree, planted in 1866, measured 51 ft. by 6 ft. 5 in. in 1907. At 

 Ponfield, a tree, 40 ft. by 3 ft. 10 in. in 1906, also had a cone persistent on 

 the stem at 25 ft. from the ground. At Bayfordbury, a tree planted in 1841 is 

 56 ft. by 8 ft. 8 in., and in 1909 for the first time bore a single cone. A larger 

 tree here, planted in 1838, was cut down in 1906, when it measured 72 ft. by 

 8 ft. 11 in. A plank from it is preserved in the forestry museum, Cambridge. 

 At Garston Manor, Watford, the seat of Mr. Watney, Sir Hugh Beevor has measured 

 a tree 5 75 ft. by 9 ft. 10 in. in girth, dividing into two stems at 15 ft. from the ground, 

 which bore cones in 1909. 



At Knaphill Nursery, near Woking, Elwes measured in 1907 a tree, 71 ft. by 

 8 ft. 10 in., which has since died. A fine healthy tree, with a few cones near the 

 top, growing at Enville Hall, Stourbridge, measured, in 1905, 71 ft. by 9 ft. 7 in. 

 At Orton Hall, Peterborough, there is a fine specimen 70 ft. by 7 ft. 9 in. in 1909, 

 which has only produced a few cones at rare intervals. 



The largest tree in Kew Gardens is situated near the Succulent House, and 

 measured 55 ft. by 8 ft. in 1909. There is a healthy tree at Toddington Grange, 

 Gloucestershire, the seat of H. Andrews, Esq., which bore cones in 1909 and 

 measures 62 ft. by 6j ft. At Tortworth, there was a tree, growing on a slope with 

 a westerly exposure, on the lower shaly beds of carboniferous limestone, cones 6 of 

 which were sent to Dr. Masters in 1896. It died and was cut down in 1902. 



We have not seen or heard of any tree in Scotland ; but at Powerscourt, Ireland, 

 a tree measured 57 ft. by 7 ft. 1 in. in 1903. (A. H.) 



1 Mayr, in Wald. Nordamer. 332 (1890), states that it attains in favourable conditions a height of 150 ft.; but this 

 great height is not confirmed by Sargent or Jepson. 



2 An account of Coulter's expeditions in Mexico and California is given by Coville in Bot. Gazette, xx. 519 (1895). 



3 Loudon, Encycl. Trees, 985 (1842). 4 Hortus Veitchii, 343 (1906). 



6 Cones weighing 3 lb. from this tree were shown at a meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society on 10th October 1905. 



Two cones, dried after keeping seven years, weigh i\ lb. each. Masters mentions a tree at Kenfield near Canterbury, 

 which produced cones in 1886. The gardener informs us that it is no longer living. 



