Finns.] LXXVI. CONIFERS. 513 



The following are the more important European species of the section 

 Pinaster : 



9 P. sylvestris, Linn., Hook. Stud.Fl. 348 ; Reichenb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 521. 

 Scotch Fir. Kiefer, Fohre, Germ. ; Pin sylvestre, Fr. A large tree with tall 

 stem, clear of branches to a great height, bark red, foliage greyish, sometimes 

 bluish green, crown pyramidal while the tree is young and growing vigorously 

 upwards, rounded afterwards. Leaves glaucous, 2-4 in. long, remaining on the 

 branches 2-3 years ; sheath short. Cones pedunculate, recurved, not shining, 

 ovoid-lanceolate, unequal-sided, 1^-2^ in. long, ends of scales rhomboid, rugose, 

 with a transverse keel, sometimes pyramidal and beaked. Wings 3 times the 

 length of seeds. Central and North Europe. Also on the mountains of Spain, 

 North Asia, Caucasus, mountains of Asia Minor and of North Persia. A variety 

 with longer cones (3 in.), the lower scales with a thick blunt beak, leaves and 

 twigs fragrant when bruised, is described by Andrew Murray as sub-sp. Haynensis 

 (Gardeners' Chronicle, 1869, p. 473). It was raised from seed supposed to have 

 been received from the North- West Himalaya. The tree, however, has not yet 

 been found in India, unless it is P. Boyleana mentioned before. It seems not 

 impossible that some Scotch Fir cultivated in the Himalaya has been the origin 

 of P. Haynensis and Royleana. In the northern Alps its upper limit is 5000, 

 and in the southern 6000 ft. In the Maritime Alps inland from Mentone its 

 range is from 1770 to 5100 ft. On the Pyrenees it grows between 3000 and 5000, 

 and on the Sierra Nevada between 5000 and 6500 ft. Fl. May ; the cones ripen 

 in the autumn of the second year, but often do not open until the following spring. 

 Eminently gregarious, forms extensive natural and generally pure forests in the 

 Highlands of Scotland, in the plains of North and East Germany, and in the 

 Baltic provinces of Russia. Thrives best on soil which transmits water readily, 

 particularly in sandy soil. Attains under favourable circumstances 150 ft., with 

 clean stems 70-80 ft. long. Such dimensions are not rare in the Scotch Fir 

 forests of Franconia, particularly in the Steigerwald, between Wiirzburg and 

 Bamberg, where it is grown with an underwood of Beech. Sapwood large, 

 enclosing a distinctly -marked reddish heartwood, durable and strong. Weight 

 25-46 lb. The seedlings require much light, but forests of Scotch Fir can, 

 under favourable circumstances, be regenerated by natural reproduction. Im- 

 ported into England from the Baltic and Norway, under the names of Red 

 Memel, Dantzig Fir, and Red Deal. 



2. P. montana, Mill. ; Willkomm Forstl. Flora, 169. Syn. P. Mughus, 

 Scop. P. Pumiiio, Hsenke ; P. uncinata, Ramond ; P. obliqua, Saut. ; 

 Reichenb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 522, 523. Pin ct crochets, Fr. ; Krummholz, Leg- 

 fbhre, Latsche, Germ. A slow-growing moderate-sized tree, with branches down 

 to the base, unless growing in close masses ; crown pyramidal, not rounded or 

 tabular when old, the lower part of the stems mostly bent down and prostrate 

 along the ground ; bark dark-coloured, greyish-brown, never red, foliage dark 

 green. Leaves green, rigid, 2 in. long, remaining 3-5 years on the branches, the 

 sheaths a little longer than those of P. sylvestris. Cones sessile, erect or spread- 

 ing, not recurved, shining, ovoid or ovoid-lanceolate, unequal-sided, 1-2^ in. 

 long ; ends of scales rhomboid, often with a recurved beak, always with a black 

 ring round the centre. Wings 3-4 times the length of seed. Alps and moun- 

 tains of Central Europe, from the Pyrenees to Bukowina, also on the moun- 

 tains of Spain and Calabria. Forms a large extent of dense but low forests on 

 the plateaus of the Schwarzwald above 2000 ft., the stems creeping and inter- 

 lacing in a remarkable manner, but always sending up erect leaders. Much 

 of this land, wet and swampy formerly, has now been drained and planted 

 with spruce. An important forest-tree on the Bavarian Alps between 2000 and 



2 K 



