574 ^^^ Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



five years, in the resinous buds, and in the small cones with hook-like apophyses. 

 Mayr, however, considers it to be a distinct species, and gives the characters which 

 distinguish it from the common form of P. sylvestris, without pointing out in what 

 respect it differs clearly from var. engadinensis. 



5. Var. ttevadensis, Christ. Needles broad, short and stiff, very white on their 

 flat surfaces. Cones nearly sessile, oblique, with very pyramidal apophyses. Occurs 

 in the Sierra Nevada in the south of Spain. 



6. Var. rejlexa, Heer. Needles as in the common form. Cones long and 

 slender, conic, with long hooks to the apophyses. This variety has been found 

 growing on high peat-mosses in Switzerland and on poor sandy soil in Prussia, and 

 occurs sporadically elsewhere. 



In the Caucasus and Asia Minor, P. sylvestris differs from the European form, 

 in having very long and broad needles {i\ inches long), and very oblique cones with 

 hooks on their outer side directed downwards. Specimens from the Amur have very 

 long leaves (4 inches or more) with cones of the ordinary form. The pine of the 

 Ural and Altai mountains (var. uralensis, Fischer) is only distinguished by having 

 short and stiff leaves. In the dry climate of the south of France, in the Cevennes 

 and in Provence, the needles of this species become short and are often disposed in 

 slender tufts at the ends of the branchlets. 



In the French Alps near Modane, P. sylvestris grows in mixture with P. montana, 

 var. uncinata ; and it is difficult to distinguish between these trees in this locality, 

 the branches densely covered with short leaves, persistent for four or five years, 

 being alike in both species ; and the cones of both have hooked apophyses.* How- 

 ever, at Modane, as elsewhere, the reddish bark and the dull colour of the cones 

 will distinguish P. sylvestris ; while in the other species the bark is never red and 

 cones are shining brown. 



Similar forests occur in Switzerland, where P. sylvestris and P. montana appear 

 to pass one into the other ; and the occurrence of these apparently transitional forms 

 has given rise to the belief that they are hybrids between the two species ; but this 

 is not established beyond doubt. 



Willkomm describes two interesting varieties, due to poverty of soil and exposure. 

 One is the shore-pine of the Baltic provinces of Prussia, which has a short bent stem 

 with an irregular crown of foliage or is a mere bush ; the cones are very oblique and 

 hooked. Another form is peculiar to the peat-mosses in Austria and Germany ; the 

 stems are rarely more than 6 feet high, very slender, and branched to the base ; 

 needles very stiff and short (about i inch long), persistent for two years ; cones very 

 small, with hooked apophyses. 



Several varieties have arisen in nurseries or as sports in the wild state. 



Var. virgata, Caspary. Main branches irregularly whorled, arising from the 

 stem at an angle of 30 to 60, elongated and giving off a few twig-like branchlets, 

 only the outermost of which are furnished with leaves. This curious variety ^ was first 



> The young cones of P. sylvestris at Modane remain erect (like those of P. montana) and are not reversed immediately 

 after pollination, as is usually the case elsewhere. 

 * Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 199 (1887). 



