84 HARDY CONIFEROUS TREES. 



the appearance of this species, although at times one may find 

 passable specimens. The leaves are usually arranged in 

 threes, but I have found them in fours and fives on the same 

 tree, though rarely ; stiffish, sharp-pointed, and lo inches long. 

 They are greyish-green, and for the greater part in clusters at 

 the branch tips. The cones are justly remarkable, being of 

 huge size and pretty colour, those from a home-grown tree being 

 each 8 inches long by fully 5 inches diameter at widest part, 

 and weighing about 2 lbs. They are conical-oblong, hard as a 

 piece of carved work, and of a pleasing and warm yellowish- 

 brown tint. For many years they remain closed, even when 

 kept in a warm room, the hooked scales, which are nearly an 

 inch in length, adhering firmly together. The tree is com- 

 paratively hardy in this country, and stands exposure well, as 

 the fine specimen at Southborough, in Kent, clearly shows. 



P. densiflora, Siebold and Zuccarini. Japan. 1854. 

 This is a distinct tree of massive and rounded contour, the 

 upward-pointing branches being thickly set, the foliage re- 

 minding one of the bright bluish-green of certain forms of the 

 Scotch pine, and to which, especially in a young state, it 

 bears a marked resemblance. The leaves are two in a sheath, 

 fully 3 inches in length ; and the cones, which are often produced 

 in small clusters, are 2 inches long, and of a light grey colour. 

 This pine cannot long succeed when planted on cold or stiff 

 soils, even although thoroughly drained, and I have known 

 several healthy specimens to die out from this cause. Shelter, 

 but not too close confinement, and light sandy loam, have 

 been productive of the finest specimens in this country. 



P. edulis, Engelmann. {Synonym: P. cembroides, 

 Gordon.) New Mexico, Colorado, Texas. About 1848. In 

 this country the present species forms a bush-like tree, as wide 

 as it is high, which in a specimen at Penrhyn Castle in Wales is 

 16 feet. The trunk is short, with the main branches striking 

 out at a height of 4 feet, these again being much sub-divided. 

 The leaf arrangement is somewhat irregular, but usually there 

 are three in a sheath, though sometimes two, each about i^ 

 inches long, and of a peculiar greyish-green colour. Cones 



