2296 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM, 



PART III. 



2214 



like leading shoot. The branches, in young trees, are disposed in regular 

 whorls from the base to the summit ; but in old trees the lower branches 

 drop off, and the tree terminates in a pyramid of open angular branches, 

 so that the regular whorls only occupy the middle portion of the tree. In 

 young trees, the branches are nearly horizontal ; but in old trees they droop 

 gracefully at their extremities; and this pendulous disposition of the branches, 

 joined to the dark sombre green of the leaves, gives to the whole tree 

 somewhat of a gloomy or melancholy aspect. (See fig. 2214., to a scale 

 of 24 ft. to 1 in.) Between the regular whorls of branches, a few small abor- 

 tive shoots appear occasionally. The bark of the trunk is rather thin, 

 warty, and of a reddish brown, becoming wrinkled and scaly on old trees. 

 The roots are spread- 

 ing, without a taproot, 

 and with numerous 

 fibres. The leaves 

 are solitary, of a dark 

 grassy green, gene- 

 rally under 1 in. in 

 length, curved or 

 bent, sharp-pointed, 

 very straight and 

 stiff, and more crowd- 

 ed together laterally 

 than on the upper 

 and under sides of 

 the branchlets. The 

 male catkins are nu- 

 merous, solitary, in 

 pairs, or a few toge- 

 ther; from A in. to 

 1 in. in length, on 

 long peduncles; cy- 

 lindrical, generally 

 curved, of a yellow- 

 ish colour, tipped 

 with red ; resem- 

 bling at first a half- 

 ripe strawberry, but 

 gradually lengthen- 

 ing and becoming 

 looser; and, when 

 ripe, discharging a 

 great quantity of yel- 

 low pollen from the anthers. The female catkins are produced at the 

 extremities of the branches; and the cones, as they ripen, become pendent. 

 When in flower, the catkins are red or purplish, and pointed; but they 

 soon take the form of a cone, or, rather, pointed cylinder; their colour 

 then becomes greenish, and this changes, as they ripen, into a rich red- 

 dish brown. In different soils and situations, the colour of the female 

 catkins, when in flower, varies from a dark red or purple to a pale red 

 or yellow, or even to a greenish hue. The ripe cones are from 5 in. 

 to Tin. in length, and from lin. to 2 in. broad. The scales are rhom- 

 boidal, slightly incurved, and rugged or toothed at the tip, with two seeds 

 in each scale. The seeds are very small, and resemble those of P. syl- 

 vestris ; but are sharper-pointed, of a deep reddish brown, and rougher 

 to the touch. In Germany, according to Hartig, they are frequently 

 used for adulterating those of P. sylvestris, as they are obtained from 

 their cones with scarcely any trouble; while those of P. sylvestris require 

 considerable time and labour, and very frequently the employment of a 



