THE STONE PINE. 389 



increases fast. Its lengtliening stem assumes commonly 

 an easy sweep. It seldom, indeed, deviates much from a 

 straight line, but that gentle deviation is very graceful, 

 and above all lines difficult to imitate. If accidentally either 

 the stem or any of the larger branches take a larger sweep 

 than usual, the sweep seldom fails to be graceful. It is 

 also among the beauties of the Stone Pine, that as the 

 lateral branches decay, they leave generally stumps, which, 

 standing out in various parts of the stem, 

 break the continuity of its lines. The 

 bark is smoother than that of any other 

 tree of the Pine kind, except the Wey- 

 mouth ; though we do not esteem this 

 among its picturesque beauties. Its hue, 

 however, which is warm and reddish, has 

 a good effect ; and it obtains a kind of 

 roughness by peeling off in patches. The 

 foliage of the Stone Pine is as beautiful as 

 the stem. Its colour is a deep warm green ; 

 and its form, instead of breaking into acute 

 angles, like many of the Pine race, is 

 moulded into a flowing line by an assem- 

 blage of small masses. As age comes on, 

 its round clump-head becomes more flat, 

 spreading itself into a canopy, which is a 

 form equally becoming." The cones are 

 larger than those of the Pinaster, of a 

 lighter colour, and more orbicular ; the 

 nuts are three-quarters of an inch in 

 length, and furnished with a very short wing. The 

 seeds, after being detached from their strong outer shell, 

 are commonly sold in large quantities all the winter 

 in Florence, Pisa, and other places within reach of the 

 extensive forests of this Pine, under the name of Pinocchi. 

 They are about the same size as the common hazel-nut, 

 only much more oblong, and not very imlike them in 

 taste, except that they have a slight and not disagree- 



