AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



137 



Finns continued. 



ed. 2, Gordon's " Pinetum," ed. 2, and Veitch's recently- 

 published " Manual of the Coniferse." 



Section I. Strobus. 



Anthers terminating in a knob or a few teeth, or in a short, incom- 

 plete crest. Leaves in fives, their sheaths loose and deciduous. 

 Cones sub-terminal ; apophysis with a marginal, unarmed umbo, 

 generally thinner. Wood softer, lighter, less resinous. 



F.USTIIODI 



Buonapavtea 



excelsa 



flexilis 



Lambertiana 



Loudoniana 



monticola 



CEMBRA 



Cembra 

 koraiensis 



Section II. Pinaster. 



Anthers mostly terminating in a semi-orbicular or almost orbicular 

 crest. Leaves one to five in a bundle, their sheaths usually 

 persistent. Apophysis with a dorsal umbo, mostly armed, 

 generally thicker. Wood generally harder, heavier, and more 

 resinous. 



I.VTEGRIFOLLt: 



aristata 



Balfouriana 



monophylla 

 SYLVESTRES 



densiflora 



longifolia 



Massoniana 



Mughus 



Pinea 



sylvestria 

 HALEPENSES 



Gerardiar 

 halepensis 

 pyrenaica 



PONDEROS^ 



austriaca 



chihuahuana 



contorta 



Grenvillese 



Laricio 



Montezumae 



ponderosa 



Coulteri 

 insignia 

 muncata 

 Pinaster 



Sabiniana 

 tuberculata 

 AUSTRALES 



australis 



CULTUBK. " In arboriculture, as in landscape planting, 

 some of the most ornamental and picturesque of trees 

 are to be found amongst the Pines, while other species 

 are greatly valued as nurses for more tender trees, for 

 forming screens, &c. So various are the soils and situa- 

 tions in which the different species occur in their native 

 countries, that there is scarcely a spot for which one or 

 other kind is not suitable; thus, the Scotch or Wild 

 Pine grows on the bleakest hills ; Pinus Pinaster 

 flourishes in shallow sands near the sea-shore ; P. rigida 

 attains its greatest perfection amidst the Cedar swamps 

 of Virginia ; P. ponderosa grows in the arid plains of 

 Utah, where no other vegetation exists ; and the Scrub 

 Pine (P. Banksiana) straggles over the rocks in the cold 

 and sterile countries east of Hudson's Bay" (Veitch). 



The only satisfactory way to propagate the wild 

 types of the various Pines is from seed, which may be 

 sown, either in April, in sandy loam, in pots, under glass 

 (and the young seedlings transplanted to the open ground 

 in the following season), or in prepared beds out- 

 side. If the latter plan be adopted, the ground should 



VoL III. 



Finns continued. 



be made very fine, and the seeds sown in March or 

 April, when the ground is in good condition. After 

 sowing, pat the bed with the back of a spade, or pass 

 a light roller over it, and then cover lightly. The smaller- 

 seeded kinds only require a thickness of Jin., or even 

 less, of sandy loam over them ; the larger ones, iin. at 

 most. If practicable, shade the beds, and keep them 

 watered, until the young plants are sufficiently developed 

 to bear full exposure. The following season, the seed- 

 lings should be placed in nursery lines, where they 

 should not be allowed to remain more than two years 

 without being again transplanted, or placed in the posi- 

 tions they are intended to occupy permanently. Probably, 

 the best results would be attained were the seeds sown 

 (and the seedlings not wanted thinned out) in the places 

 where the trees were required to grow. This would, of 

 course, involve much extra care and expense at first, 

 but there can scarcely be a doubt that, to a great 

 extent, the trouble would be repaid by the more rapid 

 growth of the plants. The gold and silver variegated 

 forms, those of a pyramidal habit, as well as the small, 

 dense, cushion-like sports, must be increased by grafting 

 on seedling plants of their respective types. 



All the species described are hardy, except where 

 otherwise stated. 



FUNOI. Few trees are more subject to become the 

 food of Fungi than the Coniferce, the Fungi attacking 

 the leaves or the branches in the fresh state, and the 

 trunks and branches after the trees have been felled, 

 or have fallen naturally. Even after the wood is em- 

 ployed in carpentry, in houses, &c., it is liable to the 

 attacks of more than one " Dry Rot " producer, the worst 

 of which is Merulius lacrymans. However, it is unneces- 

 sary here to consider Dry Rot and other Fungi that feed on 

 the dead tissues, except in so far as these Fungi destroy 

 sheds or other garden erections. The Coniferce have a 

 considerable number of parasites common to two or more 

 of the species of trees; but each tree has certain kinds 

 that, so far as is yet known, are peculiar to itself, e.g., 

 Peziza Willkommii on Larch, Peridermium elatinum on 

 Silver Fir, &c. Among the Fungi more hurtful to 

 Coniferce, and especially to Firs of the genus Pinus, are 

 the following : Several species of Polyporus (which 

 see) live on the trunks of various Conifers, destroying 

 the wood, and causing it to become soft and rotten. 

 The tree is apt to break across at the part on which 

 any kind of Polyporus has existed for some time. 

 Among the worst of the British species are P. molUs 

 on Scotch Fir, P. vaporarius and P. borealis on 

 Scotch Fir and Spruce, and P. annosus, Fr. (Trametes 

 radiciperda, Hartig). This last is one of the most 

 dangerous species, because its habit of growth permits 

 of very serious damage being done before danger is 

 even feared. It gives rise to a state known as Red 

 Rot, which causes the death of the tree. The injury ie 

 chiefly at the roots, and an attack is frequently un- 

 suspected until the tree becomes pale green and dies. 

 The roots are then found to be overgrown with the 

 mycelium of the Fungus, which appears in cracks of the 

 bark as whitish masses. The pileus is variable in some 

 cases, closely affixed to the root; in others, projecting 

 from it, brown above, wrinkled and warty. The disease 

 spreads gradually frtm a centre, destroying the trees 

 within a progressively larger area, and without visible 

 cause, as the Fungus passes from root to root in the 

 soil. 



The genus Trametes is nearly allied to Polyporus in 

 structure and mode of life, and differs only in the 

 former having the spore-bearing tubes imbedded in 

 a substance similar to that in the pilens, while in the 

 latter this substance differs from that in the pileus. 

 One species, T. Pini (see Fig. 164), grows on living Fir-trees 

 (more rarely on other Conifers), in which it also causes a 



T 



