58 SUPPLEMENT TO THE PINETUM. 



Gen. PINUS. LinncBus. The True Pines. 

 The name Pinvs is by some 'writers derived from the Greek 

 word " pion" (fat), in allusion to its resin or tar ; the Sanscrit 

 word " Peena" having exactly the same meaning ; while others 

 derive its origin from our own fine, or the Latin finis, as well as 

 jnn, in allusion to the slender leaves, which are aptly designated 

 " needle leaves^' (Nadelholz) by the Germans^ and " acerosa" 

 by botanists. Others, again^ derive Pinus from the Celtic word 

 " pen," a mountain, in allusion to the site where these trees 

 grow, and state that it is wholesome to walk in such groves, 

 where the air is impregnated with the balsamic properties of 

 " the Pine that breathes forth fragrance from every wound f 

 but the dry air and soil selected by Pines are more probably at 

 the root of the salubrity. The term Fir most probably was 

 derived from _/?7'e, the wood being very combustible, Pine forests, 

 in ancient times, being particularly subject to be destroyed by 

 that element, generally through the carelessness of man, but not 

 unfrequently either by lightning or the action of the sun's rays 

 upon the dry, decayed wood of fallen trees. 



Section I. BINjE, or those kinds having only two leaves in 



each sheath. 



Page 162. 

 Pinus Austriaca variegata, Lawson, the Variegated Austrian 



Pine. 

 A variety having some of its leaves straw-coloured, and inter- 

 mixed with the ordinary green ones on the same branchlets. 



Pinus densiflora, Siebold, the Dense Flowered Japan Pine. 



Syn. Pinus rubra, Siebold, in part. 

 „ ,, Japonica, Antoine. 

 Leaves, in twos, needle-shaped, slender, straight, acute-pointed, 

 and rough at the edges ; convex on the outer part, concave on 

 the inner one, and somewhat glaucous on both faces, and from 



