To Face Supplementary Plate No. 368. 



SCOTS PINE IN GLEN MAILLIE 



The remarkable tree which is here figured, though the size of the plate is insufficient 

 to do it justice, is a larger one than any of those mentioned in Vol. III. of this work. 

 I am not sure whether it is the same tree of which Capt. Ellice had sent me a sketch, 

 and which is mentioned on p. 588. Though much injured by the breaking of two 

 of the large limbs, it was still healthy when I saw it in 1910. The trunk in the 

 smallest place near the ground measured 18 ft. 1 in., and at five feet from the ground, 

 below the fork, 22 ft. in girth. Its height is about 75 ft. An unusual feature in 

 this tree is a young pine about 25 ft. high and 2 ft. 9 in. in girth, which has grown 

 from a seed dropped in the fork of the old tree ; and which has now become as 

 completely united with the sound wood of the trunk as if it was a true branch. 

 A good-sized birch and a small rowan are also growing as epiphytes on the trunk. 



The primaeval forest, in which this tree is probably the largest, is in my 

 judgment the finest in Scotland, and extends from a little above sea-level up to 

 700 or 800 feet. The largest trees in it are probably over 300 years old, and 

 grow on dry ridges among patches of peat covered with long heather and intersected 

 by small watercourses. A few hollies, rowans, and birches are scattered among 

 the pines ; but few seedlings of the latter are visible owing to the presence of deer. 

 There are many fine timber trees, as well as trees attractive to the naturalist. Among 

 them is one 74 ft. high and 13 ft. in girth, which has three tall clean stems of equal 

 size, dividing at about 10 feet from the ground and remaining close together for a 

 considerable height. 



In Lochiel's house at Achnacarry there is a beautiful water-colour, painted in 

 1847 by I. Giles, of a pine called "The Fir of Gusach," which formerly grew on the 

 shore of Loch Arkaig, but has long ago disappeared. It was remarkably similar in 

 form and size to the tree now figured. 



