486 



CONIFERS. 



they frequently take a partially pendent direction, and 

 the branches are also more or less pendulous according 

 to the habit of the individual. The male and female 



I 



catkins appear in April, the former being sessile upon 

 the branchlets, of a globular shape and yellow colour ; 

 the young cones are of a beautiful, 

 rosy red, varying in some to a 

 reddish, in others, to a yellowish, 

 white, but as they ripen they change 

 to a wood brown ; they stand erect 

 upon a strong bent footstalk, and 

 when fullgrown are upwards of an 

 inch in length ; the scales are striated 

 and persistent, round, and slightly 

 waved on the margin. The seed is 



of an ovate shape, and half surrounded by the broad mem- 

 branaceous wing, or pericarp. The young plant rises with 

 from five to seven cotyledons. 



In favourable situations, and in its native habitats in 

 Alpine regions, it grows to a height of from eighty to 

 upwards of one hundred feet, with a diameter of trunk 

 of from three to five feet. Trees of dimensions equal to 



