PIXUS EXCELSA. 



329 



Pinus excclsa inhabits the temperate Himalaya from Bhotan to 

 Kuram in Afghanistan with a vertical range of from 7,000 to 12,000 

 feet elevation. It does not occur uninterruptedly throughout this long 

 stretch of mountain country, but there is a break in the continuity 

 in Sikkim, and it is altogether absent from central and west Kumaon. 

 Towards its eastern limit it usually occurs on southern slopes above 

 Pinus longifolia and below Picea Smithiana- in western Nepal it 

 forms unmixed forests of great extent ; in Kashmir it is associated 



Fig. 93. Pinus excclsa at The Frythe, near Welwyn, Herts. 



with Cedrus Deodar a and Abies Pindrow, in Afghanistan it forms a 

 forest belt between 8,000 and 12,000 feet elevation where it is 

 reduced to a low straggling shrub ; and towards its western limit it 

 comes into contact with Pinus G-erardiana and Juniperus excelsa. 

 Pinus excelsa is the only Conifer that is spread through the entire 

 length of the Himalayan range, and it is one of the most valuable 

 timber trees of the region. 



