1 1 14 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



conic 3 to 7 in. long, 4 to 2I in. in diameter near the oblique base, shining 

 reddish yellow; scales oblong, about 4 in. long and | in. broad, flat; apophysis 

 rhomboidal, convex and slightly raised in the centre, or pyramidate and much 

 elevated, with a linear transverse ridge, and a dull grey elevated sharp-pomted or 

 blunt umbo. Seed i in. or more, shining black above and dull mottled grey below, 

 with a detachable brown wing, i to i^ in. in length. 



The seedling has seven or eight cotyledons, entire in margin and dull green in 

 colour ; and the stem is clothed during the first two years with solitary sharply serrate 

 primary needles, the adult geminate foliage only appearing in the third year. Seed- 

 lings thrive only in full sunlight, and grow fast, attaining often a foot in height in the 

 first year, and 10 to 1 2 ft. at the end of the tenth year. This pine ' has a strong tap- 

 root, but speedily develops in addition lateral roots which either spread horizontally 

 or descend into the soil. 



Varieties 



This species varies, in the wild state, in the length of the leaves and in the size 

 of the cones, ^ the scales of which show considerable differences in the amount of 

 prominence of the apophyses. The following varieties have been distinguished. 



1. Var. Aberdonice, Loudon, Gard. Mag. xv. 128 (1839). Leaves pale green. 

 Cones shorter and more ovoid than in the type. Introduced in 1825 from Nice by 

 the Earl of Aberdeen, who raised plants, one of which was presented to Lord 

 Granville, and was reported by Loudon to have been 17 ft. high at Dropmore in 1837. 

 Reported trees of this variety, labelled P- Escarena^ are now growing at Dropmore, 

 and only differ from the type in having a thinner and less fissured bark. 



2. Var. Hamiltoni, Gordon, Pinetum, 178 (1858) {Pinus Hamiltoni^ Tenore, Cat. 

 Ort. Bot. Nap. 90 (1845)), is supposed^ to be identical with the preceding variety; 

 but a tree at Kew, named var. Hamiltoni, only differs from the type in having more 

 slender branchlets. It has not borne cones. 



3. Var, minor, Loiseleur, vcvNouv. Duhamel, v. 242, t. 72 (181 2), found on barren 

 sands near Le Mans, France, was said to bear small cones, and to be hardier than 

 the type. 



4. Var. Lemoniana, Loudon. P. Lemoniana, Bentham, in Trans. Hart. Sac. \. 

 512 (1835). Cone solitary and erect at the end of the branchlet, the terminal bud not 



' After felling, the stools occasionally grow, like those of the silver fir, and for the same reason, because their roots are 

 connected with those of adjacent living trees. The annual rings of wood continue to be formed on the stump after the trunk 

 has been felled, as illustrated by a specimen from Gordon Castle ; and this new formation in the amputated stump owes its 

 origin to inosculation of the roots. A remarkable example of the fusion of the roots of two trees of P. Pinaster, discovered 

 in a Portuguese forest, and now preserved in the Museum at Coimbra, is illustrated in Gard. Chron. xxii. 300, fig. 58 (1884). 

 ^ Cones of this species, differing in the arrangement of the scales, are described and figured by Dickson, in Trans. Roy. 

 Soc. Edin. xxvi. 505, PI. 19-22 (1871). At Woburn the cones of old trees growing close together vary considerably in the 

 prominence of the apophyses, and in the size of the seeds ; but seedlings raised from the two kinds of seed are indistinguish- 

 able in appearance at present. 



3 P. Escarena, Risso, Hist. Nat. Europ. MSrid. ii. 340 (1826), is a doubtful plant ; and according to the Duke of Bedford, 

 ex Loudon, Gard. Mag. xv. 127 (1839), is a variety oi P. sylvestris. The seeds brought home by the Earl of Aberdeen from 

 trees near Nice were erroneously supposed by him to be Risso's species, which was named P. Escarena in honour of the Count 

 d'Escartee, who discovered it wild in the mountains near Nice. Gordon, in Gard. Chron., 1841, p. 564, gives an inaccurate 

 account of this, which he calls P. ascarena, from a village named Ascaren in Italy. 



* A tree labelled P. Hamiltoni still exists in the Botanic Garden at Naples, of which Prof. Cavara has kindly sent us a 

 branch with cones, which are indistinguishable from those of typical P. Pinaster. 

 ^ By Gordon, and by Koch (Dendrologie, ii. 2, p. 292 (1873)). 



