Chap. X. TEEES. 387 



by seed ; thus justifying Loudon's remark, that " a variety is often 

 " of as much importance as a sj^ecies, and sometimes far more so." '" 

 I may mention one rather important point in which this tree occa- 

 sionally varies; in the classification of the Couifera3, sections arc 

 founded on whether two, three, or five leaves are included in the 

 same sheath ; the Scotch fir has properly only two leaves thus 

 enclosed, but specimens have been observed with groups of three 

 leaves in a sheath."^ Besides these differences in the semi-culti- 

 vated Scotch fir, there are in several parts of Europe natural or 

 geographical races, which have been ranked by some authors as 

 distinct species.^*^^ Loudon ^"^^ considers F. pumiUo, with its several 

 si;b-varieties, as muf/hus, na/ui, &c.,which differ much when planted 

 m different soils, and only come " tolerably true from seed," as 

 aijiine varieties of the Scotch fir ; if this were proved to be the case, 

 it would be an interesting fact as showing that dwarfing from long 

 exposure to a severe climate is to a certain extent inherited. 



The Hawthorn (Vratceyus oxyacantha) has varied much. Besides 

 endless slighter variations in the form of the leaves, and in the size, 

 hardness, fleshiness, and shape of the berries, London^'''' enumerates 

 twenty-nine well-marked varieties. Besides those cultivated for 

 their "pretty flowers, there are others with golden-yellow, black, and 

 whitish berries; others with woolly berries, and others with re- 

 curved thorns. Loudon triily remarks that the chief reason why 

 the hawthorn has yielded more varieties than most other trees, 

 is that nurserymen select any remarkable variety out of the 

 immense beds of seedlings which are annually raised for making 

 hedges. The flowers of the hawthorn usually include from one to 

 three pistils; but in two varieties, named mohv'jyna and sibirict, 

 there is only a single pistil ; and d'Asso states that the common 

 thorn in Spain is constantly in this state."^"^ There is also a variety 

 which is apetalous, or has its petals reduced to mere rudiments. 

 The famous Glastonlmry thorn flowers and leafs towards the end of 

 December, at which time it bears berries ])roduced from an earlier 

 crop of flowers.^"' It is worth notice that several varieties of the 

 hawthorn, as well as of the lime and juniper, are very distinct in 

 their foliage and habit whilst young, but in the course of thirty or 

 forty years l>ecome extremely like each other ;^'^* thus reminding us 

 of the well-known fact that the deodar, the cedar of Lebanon, and 



161 'Arboretum et Fruticetum,' "'^ 'Arboretum et Fruticetnm,' voi. 



vol. iv. p. 2150. iv. pp. 2159 and 2189. 



1" 'Gardener's Chron.,' 1852, p. '" Ibid.,' vol. ii. p. 830; Loudon's 



G93. ' Gardener's Mag.,' vol. vi. 183u, p. 



'^^ See ' Beitrage zur Kenntniss 714. 



Europaischer Pinus-arten vou Dr. "^"^ Loudon's 'Arboretum et Fru- 



Chriit : Flora, 1864.' He shows that ticetum,' voL ii. p. 834. 



in the Ober-Engadin P. s.)//r6'.«<m and ^" Loudon's • Gurd.'ner's Mag., vol. 



montina are connected bj- interme- i.x. 183:^. \<. 123. 



diate links. '"' Ibid., voL .xi. 1835, p. 503. 



2 c 2 



