168 Capt. S. E. Cook on the Genus Pinus and Abies. 



rivers Cirna and Esscra, it is separated from the French ter- 

 ritory by leagues of distance and thousands of feet of eleva- 

 tion. The frontier line in that part extends for a great distance 

 amid the Siberian altitudes of the Maladetta and Mont Perdu, 

 far above the limits of arboreal vegetation. The forest men- 

 tioned in the 'Arboretum' as at the Port de Scez, is ofuncinafa, 

 and is Spanish and not French. 



Independently of other differences between these species, 

 which are quite distinct, the Laricio is highly resinous, the 

 hispanica m hite and dry in tjie timber. The former tree as- 

 sumes the umbellate form, which the hispanica does not, its 

 growth being singularly free and elegant ; and it is more clear 

 and transparent both in the bark and foliage than its geogra- 

 phical neighbour. 



In the scale we propose the timber of both these species 

 ought to be of the middle quaHty, better than those below them, 

 and inferior to the preceding species which are higher in the 

 scale. This is precisely the case ; and the Laricio is rather the 

 better of the two, its habitat being colder than that of the 

 southern natural site of the P. hispanica. 



The Pinus Pinaster^ and Pinea, or stone pine, are next on 

 the list. There is little difference in the habitats of these spe- 

 cies, or in the value of their timber. I found the Pinaster to oc- 

 cupy a regular zone below the sylvestris, in the central range of 

 the Guadarrama. If there be two varieties, which is doubtful, 

 this is identical with the Pin des Landes ; and taking altitude 

 and latitude both into account, these localities, which are about 

 its northern limit, pretty nearly correspond with each other. 



The Pinus Pinea has its most northern natural habitat, 

 as far as I know, taking the elevation into account, in the 

 plains and uplands of Old Castile, which is further north than 

 that assigned to the Pinaster, but it is certainly less hardy 

 than that species in other climates. These pines, growing thus 

 far north and at a rather high elevation, ought to produce 

 good timber, whilst that of both is notoriously the contrary. 

 How does this happen ? Because these northern sites are not 

 the general or exclusive habitats of the species, both of which 

 descend to a very low level. In the same country the Pinea is 

 found growing spontaneously in the sandy wastes of Anda- 

 lusia, in the Tierra Caliente of Spain, in the zone where the 



