Pin us 



I 101 



than in the type. The differences observable, due to the influence of soil and 

 climate, are similar to those seen in the Austrian and Corsican varieties of 

 P. Laricio. 



Distribution 



The Aleppo pine is a Mediterranean species, occurring in almost all the countries 

 bordering on its shores, from Spain to Asia Minor, and from France and Dalmatia 

 to Morocco and Algeria. 



In France this species occurs in Provence, in the region of the olive, from the 

 foot of the Alps westward to Sommieres, Gard, never extending far from the sea- 

 coast, and not extending above 2700 ft. altitude. It grows mainly on limestone, 

 occupying dry rocky slopes, where scarcely any other tree will grow, but is also 

 common on the porphyry of the Esterel, and is met with on gneiss near Cannes. 1 

 On Mount Ventoux it ascends to 1300 ft., but at this elevation and distance from the 

 sea is liable to suffer from frost. Large forests occur, as that of Merindol on Mount 

 Luberon, which covers 4000 acres, and is composed of a mixture of Aleppo pine and 

 Quercus Ilex. 



Here the trees are usually small in size and stunted in growth, with crooked 

 stems, as the soil is arid and shallow limestone ; but in a ravine, where there was 

 some moisture and a growth of ferns, I measured a tree 80 ft. in height, with a 

 straight stem, free of branches to 50 ft., and 8 ft. in girth. In Spain 2 this species is 

 a native of all the provinces bordering on the Mediterranean, and extends inland as 

 far as Huesca, Saragossa, Teruel, Cuenca, and Guadalajara, growing in the lower 

 regions of the mountains up to 3300 ft., and somewhat rare on the coast itself, though 

 there is a remarkable wood, covering the greater part of the Dehesa de Valencia, a 

 sandy spit of land, about 8 miles long, separated from the sea by the Albufera 

 lagoon. There are small woods on limestone east of Gaucin, north of Gibraltar, 

 where I measured a tree at 900 ft. elevation, 65 ft. in height, and 10 ft. 8 in. in girth. 



It is common in the Balearic Isles, where it ascends in Majorca as a tree to 

 3200 ft., becoming a mere bush at 3900 ft. On Iviza there is a forest 16,000 acres in 

 extent, consisting of P. kalepensis, partly pure and partly mixed with deciduous trees. 



In Italy it is not found north of the Apennines, but it is fairly common on the 

 west and east coasts. It grows, 8 though in much less abundance than in the Riviera, 

 on serpentine rocks between Savona and Genoa, and occurs in the mountains of 

 Umbria between Spoleto and Terni, ascending on Somma to about 2000 ft. About 

 the falls of the Velino, and in the defile through which the Nar flows below Narni, it 

 is pretty frequent, growing on limestone amidst the woods of Quercus Ilex. On the 

 eastern side of the Adriatic 4 it succeeds as a planted tree in Dalmatia, but is only 

 wild south of latitude 43, occurring in small quantity about Ragusa and in the Meleda 

 and Curzola islands. It has also been observed by Baldacci in Albania. 



It is common in Greece, except in southern Peloponnesus, and also occurs in 

 Crete and most of the islands, often forming extensive forests near the sea-coast, and 



1 Bunbury, Bot. Fragments, 8 (1883). 2 Willkomm, Pflanzenverb. iberischen Halbinsel, 95, 190 (1896). 



3 Cf. Bunbury, Bot. Fragments, 8 (1883). Sprenger, in Mitt. deut. dendr. Ges., 1905, p. 182, says there are fine trees on 

 the heights of Posilippo, near Naples, and notes the great quantity of its cones, even when the trees are very young. The pollen 

 is so abundant that people who suffer from hay fever avoid it. 4 Cf. Beck, Veget. illyrischen Lander, 135 (1901). 



