1 1 20 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



nearly 100 in a cone, one or two on each scale, in. to f in. long, dark purplish 

 brown, convex on the inner and flattened on the outer surface, with a thick shell 

 and an edible kernel ; wing in. to \ in. long, surrounding the apex and part of the 

 sides of the seed, remaining on the scale when the cone opens. 



The cones of this species are remarkable in taking three years to ripen, the seeds 

 usually falling out in the spring of the fourth year ; and each scale shows distinctly the 

 growth of three seasons, the inner and outer umbo indicating the growth of the first 

 and second year, while the rest of the apophysis is formed in the third year. 



The seedling 1 has ten to thirteen cotyledons, nearly 2 in. long, triangular in 

 section, sharp-pointed and stomatiferous on the upper two sides. The primary leaves, 

 solitary, \ to 1 in. long, linear, flattened, serrate, and stomatiferous on both surfaces, 

 are produced for several years, in mixture, after the first season, with the adult 

 geminate leaves. Seedlings are very vigorous in growth, often attaining a foot in 

 length in six months, and develop lateral branches and a long tap-root. 



In this species, 2 adult trees frequently produce branches, which bear solitary 

 glaucous flat linear leaves, similar to the primary leaves on the seedling plant. 

 Hochstetter 3 has succeeded in fixing the juvenile form by cuttings, producing beautiful 

 shrubs with solitary needles. 



The Comte de Paris sent in 1894, from his estate near Seville in Spain, to the 

 Museum at Kew, 4 a cone, from the apex of which a stout leafy shoot had sprung, a 

 foot in length and with three branches. It died after it had exhausted all the 

 nourishment from the cone, which had been severed from the tree when the shoot 

 was about 6 in. in length. 



The stone pine shows little or no tendency to vary ; but there is a form in culti- 

 vation in Italy, var. fragilis, with a very thin shell to the seed. 



Distribution 



The stone pine is a native of the Mediterranean region, and undoubtedly 

 occurs wild, 8 as well as planted, in the Iberian peninsula, south-eastern France, 

 Corsica, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, extending a little distance into Russian 

 territory on the south-east of the Black Sea. It has been recorded as a native of 

 the Canaries and Algeria, but there is no doubt that it has been introduced into 

 these regions. It has been extensively planted for centuries, and it is difficult to 

 ascertain whether existing woods are natural or artificial in many localities ; while on 

 the other hand, owing to the advance of agriculture, it has probably disappeared in 

 historic times from many places. 



It is more widely distributed in Spain and Portugal than elsewhere, its northern 

 limit, according to Willkomm, 6 being a line following the Douro from its mouth to 

 its source, continued through southern Aragon to the coast of Catalonia. Remark- 



1 Excellent figures representing different stages in the germination are given by Sachs, Text-book Bot. 508 (1882). 



2 Cf. Masters, in Gard. Chron. xx. 48, fig. 9 (1883), and/ourn. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xxvii. 259, fig. 8 (1S91 ). 



3 Gard. Chron. xv. 333 (1881). 



* Thiselton-Dyer, in Ann. Bot. xvii. 779, t. 40 (1903), and Kew Bulletin, 1894, p. 226. 



5 Nyman, Syllog. Fl. Europ. 347 (1854-5), doubts the spontaneity of this tree in Europe ; but this opinion is contrary to 

 that of most botanists. 8 Pflanzenverb. iber. Halbinsel, 96 (1896). 



