330 ON PINUS ARISTATA, ETC. 
from Pinus, reuniting them, however, afterwards. Since then many botanists have investigated this 
interesting subject,and while some of the highest standing —I mention only the names of Endlicher 
and Hooker — have adhered to the Linnzean circumscription of the genus, others of no less authority 
have thought it more natural to recognize the distinctions already made by popular language, and 
some of them adopted by the older botanists. The first who more thoroughly examined the question 
was Link, who (Linnea, Vol. 15, 1841) characterized 5 genera, Abies, Picea, Larix, Cedrus, and 
Pinus. Endlicher, in Synops. Conif., 1847, further separated Link’s Piceee desciscentes under 
the name of T’swga, considering all these as subdivisions of the genus Pinus. Carriére [210] 
(Traité des Coniféres) adopted Link’s genera, with Endlicher’s addition, without further 
developing their distinctive characters. My investigations lead me to adopt Carriére’s views, more 
firmly establishing those six genera, — not without some misgivings, however, as it will appear from 
the following, that, besides the characters derived from the organs of fructification, in one instance 
at least the characters of vegetation have also to be brought in to distinguish two apparently not 
very nearly allied genera, Larix and Tsuga; while others, thought to be closely connected, such as 
Picea and Tsuga, or Larix and Cedrus, recede far from each other in their essential organs. Other- 
wise the characters of fructification and vegetation” go so well together as materially to confirm one 
another and to establish the generic differences. An interesting fact is, that the pollen grains of 
Abies, Tsuga, and Picea are largest (in four species 0.053-0.060 lines in the longest diameter), those 
of Cedrus smaller (in two species 0.042-0.043 lines), and those of Pinus the smallest (in four species 
0.034—0.038 lines). Will the characters of vegetation, after all, outweigh those of fructification, and 
will we have to fall back to old Tournefort’s views and recognize his three genera, — Abies, with 
single leaves and large pollen; Zarizx, with crowded leaves and middle-sized pollen ; and Pinus, with 
fasciculated, sheathed leaves and small pollen ? 
I have, with Du Roi, Link, and Endlicher, and against Linnzus’, Lambert’s and Loudon’s au- 
thority, adopted the ancient Plinian name of Picea, the pitch tree, for those with quadrangular leaves 
and pendulous cones, the original representative of which is the well-known pitch tree of Europe, 
here usually called “ Norway Spruce,” and the name of Ades also in the Plinian sense for those with 
flat leaves and erect cones, the Fir trees. 
ABIETINEX VERZ. 
I. Fructificatio annua ; squame strobili tenuiores bracteis suede tenuibus pergamentaceis hinc excrescenti- 
bus rarissime lignescentibus suffultee. Semina facie superiore basi re persistentis obtecta eaque plus minus 
inclusa. Amenta mascula femineaque perulis indefinitis suffulta, in mere anni prioris axillaria, rarius terminalia ; 
anthere varie. Folia singula sen, axi abbreviata, fasciculata integerrima.! 
§. Anthere connectivo apice apiculato recurvato, loculis rima transversali dehiscentibus confluentibus. [211] 
Folia subtus carinata, supra canaliculata planave. . 
1. Apres, Link: squame strobili erecti maturitate ab axi decidue ; semina basi als inclusa libera, testa vesiculis 
balsamiferis repleta ; amenta mascula in axillis foliorum versus apicem ramorum annotinorum sessilia ; folia petiolata, 
pseudo-disticha, cicatricem circularem relinquentia, sicca tia. — Fir. 
2. Tsuea, Endl. sub Pino ; Carrizre: squame strobili cum ramulo declinati persistentes; semina basi ale ad- 
nata ; amenta mascula in axillis foliorum versus apicem ramorum annotinorum sessilia vel terminalia ; folia petiolata 
pseudo-disticha, cicatricem semicircularem relinquentia. — Hemlock-spruce. 
Mi , Spach: bractese strobili incluse ; testa vesiculis balsamiferis repleta ; folia sicca decidua. 
Peucoides, Biases bractez strobili exsertz ; testa vesiculis balsamiferis destituta ; folia sicca persistentia. 
3. Larrx, Link: squame strobili i in ramulo seperate terminalis nutantis seu adscendentis persistentes ; semina 
basi ale adnata, testa vesiculis bal nta mascula ex apice ramulorum abbreviatorum annotinorum ; 
folia angustissima, fasciculata, sola inter cetera annua, aaa triangularem relinquentia, sicca decidua. — Larch. 
1 Though the leaves are usually ~~ I have seen a seedling of Picea excelsa from the woods of Trient, in Switzerland, 
with spinulose leaves ; whether that is the ordinary occurrence I do not know. The young of P. nigra, from the White Moun- 
tains, have entire leaves. 
