CHAP. CX11I. 



CONl'FERjE. 



2227 



2108 



the cones increase rapidly in size ; 

 the scales lose their reddish tinge, 

 and become of a beautiful green, 

 the point alone remaining red ; 

 and at last, about the end of the 

 third year, they attain maturity. 

 At this period, the cones are 

 about 4 in. long, and 3 in. in dia- 

 meter, and they have assumed a 

 general reddish hue. The con- 

 vex part of the scales forms a 

 depressed pyramid, with rounded 

 angles, the summit of which is 

 umbilical. Each scale is hollow 

 at its base ; and in its interior are 

 two cavities, each containing a 

 seed much larger than that of any 

 other kind of European pine, but 

 the wing of which is, on the con- 

 trary, much shorter. The lig- 

 neous shell which envelopes the 

 kernel is hard and difficult to break in the common kind, but in the variety 

 P. P. 2 fragilis it is tender, and easily broken by the fingers. In both, the 

 kernel is white, sweet, and agreeable to the taste. The taproot of the stone 

 pine is nearly as strong as that of P. Pinas- 

 ter; and, like that species, the trees, when 

 transplanted, generally lean to one side, from 

 the head not being correctly balanced. 

 Hence, in full-grown trees of the stone 

 pine, there is often a similar curvature at 

 the base of the trunk, to that of the pi- 

 naster, which has been already mentioned 

 and accounted for, p. 2218. The palmate 

 form of the cotyledons of the genus Pinus 

 is particularly conspicuous in those of P. 

 Pinea. When one of the ripe kernels is 

 split in two, the cotyledons separate, so as 

 to represent roughly the form of a hand ; 

 and this, in some parts of France, the country 

 people call la main de Dieu, and believe to 

 be a remedy in cases of intermittent fever, if 

 swallowed in uneven numbers, such as 3, 5, - 

 or 7. In Britain, the stone pine is seldom 

 seen in any other character than that of a 

 large bush, though there are specimens be- 

 tween 30 ft. and 40 ft. high. The rate of 

 growth is slow, seldom exceeding 6 ft, or 8 ft. in ten years. The plant in 

 the Horticultural Society's Garden, figured in our last Volume, attained 

 the height of 1 1 ft. in 10 years; and one at Dropmore, 23 ft. in 22 years. The 

 duration of the tree is much greater than that of the pinaster, and the 

 timber is whiter and somewhat more durable. In the climate of London, trees 

 of from 15 to 20 years' growth produce cones. 



Geography. The stone pine is a native of Italy, Spain, Greece, the coast 

 of Barbary, and probably some parts of Asia. Dr. Sibthorp found it abun- 

 dant in the sandy plains of Elis, whence the nuts are exported for eating, and 

 where the timber is often used for ship-building. It is also found wild in the 

 south of France ; but it appears to be rather a doubtful native there, as it 

 never forms forests, and very rarely woods of any considerable extent; and 

 the trees are not only either isolated or thinly scattered, but are also generally 



7 E 3 



2109 



