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Gardening for Amateurs 



this group are recognised under the name of 

 Spruce. P. excelsa, a native of Northern 

 and Central Europe, is the tree from which the 

 white deal timber of commerce is procured. 

 It thrives throughout the British Isles and 

 gives good results on wet ground. But 

 for cold, boggy land its value is surpassed 

 by that of P. sitchensis, from Western N. 

 America ; there are few more satisfactory 

 trees than this for wet land at a high alti- 



A variegated Cedar (Cedrus Deodara albo-spica). 



tude. P. orientalis is the Oriental Spruce, a 

 tree with smaller leaves than P. excelsa. P. 

 pungens and its variety glauca are two 

 decorative N. American Spruces, and P. 

 Morinda is a handsome tree from the Hima- 

 layas, of peculiar value by reason of its long, 

 drooping branchlets. 



Pinus (Pine). The Pines are chiefly 

 timber trees, though a few kinds are of 

 shrubby habit. They are widely distributed 

 through Europe and N. America, and are 

 found in Asia from the Himalayas to Siberia, 

 and in Japan. As a rule they thrive on poor, 

 sandy soil, and several are valuable for 

 reclaiming sandy areas in the vicinity of the 

 sea, and also for covering bare land at 

 a considerable elevation. The commonest 

 European tree is P. sylvestris, the Scotch 

 Pine. It is found wild throughout Northern 



and Central Europe and in Siberia. The 

 remains of several natural forests are still 

 to be found in Scotland. The Pines may be 

 placed in several distinct groups according 

 to the leaf arrangement. One set is identified 

 by its leaves being borne in pairs, another 

 set by the leaves appearing in bundles of 

 three each, whilst in the case of a third set 

 the leaves appear in bundles of five. In one 

 instance, P. monophylla, the leaves appear 

 singly. In addition 

 to P. sylvestris, 

 the following 

 European Pines 

 are worthy of 

 note : P. Pinaster, 

 P. Laricio and its 

 variety nigricans, 

 P. Cembra, P. 

 Pinea and P. hale- 

 pensis. P. Pin- 

 aster is often used 

 in France for 

 reclaiming sandy 

 wastes near the 

 sea. and P. Laricio 

 and variety 

 nigricans, the 

 Corsican and 

 Austrian Pines 

 respectively, are 

 used for the same 

 purpose in this 

 country. In fact 



the Austrian Pine ia one of the best 

 shelter trees known. P. Cembra is a five- 

 leaved Pine of dense, pyramidal habit, and 

 P. Pinea, the Stone or Parasol Pine of the 

 Mediterranean region, is of decorative ap- 

 pearance by reason of its short trunk and 

 wide, flat head, P. insignis, from California, 

 is an excellent, fast-growing tree, suitable for 

 planting in exposed places about the south 

 and west coast ; whilst a very beautiful Pine 

 is met with in the glaucous-leaved P. excelsa, 

 a five-leaved sort from the Himalayas. Other 

 five-leaved Pines of distinct merit are P. 

 Armandi, P. Ayacahuite, P. lambertiana. 

 and P. Strobus. Amongst other Pines, P. 

 ponderosa, P. Coulteri, P. Thunbergii, P. 

 muricata, P. montana and P. bungeana are 

 worth consideration. 

 Prumnopitys elegans is a Yew-like bush 



