364 Foreign Notices : — Spain. 



of the tree, which is, most probably, either P. unciiijita, or P. sylvestris ; most 

 likely the latter. The adjoining country to the west, the Roncesvalles district, 

 is clothed with the P. pectinata, like the opposite side of the French Py- 

 renees. Along the whole coast of the Tierra Caliente, as far as the Serrania de 

 Ronda, I believe no other species to exist than the P. halepensis. On the 

 western coast of Andalusia are P. halepensis and P. Pinea. The latter forms 

 a forest, through which the old road passes from Uterra to Seville, which is 

 still followed by horsemen and muleteers. In the Sierra Morena I saw no 

 native pines; but I believe the species which properly represents that region, 

 and which is found cultivated, is the Pinea, which probably extends into the 

 southern provinces of Portugal. In Lower Estremadura I am unacquainted 

 with any pinares or pine forests. 



G 



Forest Section across the Castiles. 



S. B Sea of Biscay, n. Oak, chestnut, hazel, &c., of Asturias. P. P, Puerto de Pajares. c. Beech. 

 d. Oak of Castile (Q. prasina). V, Valladolid. e, P. Pinea (stone pine). G, Guadarrama range. 

 /, P. sylvestris, forming the upper zone of the range, g, P. Pinaster, h. Oak (Quercus Toxa, 

 Enc'ina, &c.) M, Madrid, i, P. halepensis, Encina, &c., of Alcarria. g, P. Pinaster. /, P. syl- 

 vestris, of Val de Cabras. S. C, Sierra de Cuenca. k, P. hispanica ? h, P. halepensis. V, 

 Valencia. M, Mediterranean. 



" The respective lines of vegetation of the pine as to altitude, established 

 by these observations, give, in the ascending series, P. halepensis, hispanica. 

 Pinaster, Pinea (in Old Castile), pectinata, sylvestris, and uncinata. The 

 Pinea also occupies a much lower range in the flat of the Guadalquivir, where 

 it is equal with the halepensis, thus varying its native habitats considerably. 

 The value for economical purposes is nearly in the ratio of the ascent, the 

 order increasing being, halepensis, Pinaster, Pinea, hispanica, pectinata, syl- 

 vestris, and uncinata. 



" It may be necessary to observe, that, in naming these species, the only 

 certain mode of distinction has been followed, which is that founded on the 

 fruit or cones ; the other characters, of colour, of length of spicula, and other 

 artificial methods, only tend to mislead, and, even to the experienced eye, 

 should be viewed with extreme caution. The difficulty of obtaining accurate 

 information is so great as to be nearly insurmountable. The subject has been 

 little attended to, scarcely at all; and the observations even of the translator 

 of Linnaeus, in the imperfect state of knowledge of that period, in this depart- 

 ment, only mislead. 



" It is far from being meant to be asserted, that the species in this vast 

 country are confined to those in this list ; it is possible more may exist, but 

 they require examination and proof, and more than the idea held by many 

 people in Spain, that every thing and every species is to be found on their soil. 



" In examining the forests, care must be taken not to be misled by local 

 names, which are exceedingly varied in the different provinces, and often do 

 not apply to species at all. In the Sierra de Cuenca, for instance, they have 

 a term applied to a tree in a particular state of foliage, and of stunted form, 

 or what the French call ' rabougri,' in distinction from a sound and well- 

 growing tree. 



" The Oaks. — The evergreen oak is one of the leading vegetable features of 

 nearly all Spain. The native woods of Aragon, of the greater part of Cata- 

 lonia, of the Castiles, Estremadura, Andalusia, Valencia, and Murcia, are 

 formed in a great measure of a species which has been little noticed, and has 

 acquired an unfortunate appellation, that of gramuntia, from having been 

 observed in a remnant of a wood near Montpelier, which is a kindred soil and 

 climate to the middle and southern regions of Spain. This species is quite 

 distinct from the Q. /Hex, its nearest congener. The leaves are thicker, more 

 rounded at the point, of a dull glaucous green, and the tree altogether of a 

 more compact and less graceful form than the Italian ilex. The great and 



