532 i: V E R G R E E S T R E E S A .\ U S H R C li S . 



of the exquisite plume-like tufts of the more delicate rinus cxcdsa. 

 Judging by the Parsons specimen, it is a more beautiful lawn tree 

 than either the white, Scotch, or the Austrian pines, less rough- 

 branched and formal than the Austrian, of a more pleasing green 

 than the Scotch, and more massy-foliaged than the white. In its 

 general appearance it bears the same relation to the Austrian pine 

 that the Finns excelsa does to the white pine ; that is to say, it is 

 proportionally of more free and graceful foliage.* It has proved 

 quite hardy in H. W. Sargent's place at Fishkill, on the Hudson. 



The Bhotan Pine. P. excelsa. — Leaves in five's, five to seven 

 inches long, slender, loose, and pendulous, like plumes. Cones 

 cylindrical, larger than the leaves, and pendulous. Color of foliage 

 a light green. 



This queen of the pines is a native of the southerly slopes of 

 the Himalayas, in latitudes 27° to 35°, and at elevations of from 

 five thousand to twelve thousand feet above the sea ; where it at- 

 tains a height of one hundred and fifty feet, and forms in open 

 exposures a broad pyramidal mass. A traveller in the Himalayas 

 says : " It is remarkable for its drooping branches, whence it is 

 frequently called the 'weeping fir.' " There are yet no specimens 

 in this country large enough to indicate with certainty what the 

 habit of a full-grown tree will be, but the exquisite bending plumes, 

 formed by each annual growth of leaves, which gleam with a silvery 

 light as they are moved by the wind, are alone enough to entitle it 

 to the name of the weeping pine, were it not a misnomer to apply 

 the term "weeping" to a tree so radiant with sunny cheerfulness. 

 As far as we can judge by the specimens now growing in this 

 country, this pine sjDreads more in proportion to its height than the 

 white pine — more like the Scotch — and retains a strength of growth 

 in its lower horizontal branches, that gives promise of a nobler 



* Since the above was written, the large trees in Parsons' specimen grounds at Flushing have 

 died, while small trees in their nurseries are uninjured. Mr. J. R. .Stnimpe, the very skillful 

 propagator of that establishment, and a careful observer, does not consider the misfortune as 

 conclusive of the lack of hardiness of this species, as our own native white pines occasionally 

 die in the same way from some unseen cause : but it is certainly suggestive that our climate 

 may not be adapted to it. These specimens had been grown with great luxuriance in a rich 

 deep soil. Perhaps excessive feeding had something to do with their premature death. 



