1 122 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



attain a height of about 70 ft. There is also a wood of this species at Castel Fusano 

 near Rome. The most celebrated forest^ of P. Pima in Italy, the Pinete di 

 Ravenna, in which Dante, according to tradition, composed the Divina Commedia 

 whilst he walked amidst its glades, is situated east of Ravenna, forming a band 2 miles 

 distant from the Adriatic coast, about 16 miles in length and a mile in width; and 

 in 1866 covered about 10,500 acres, according to Balestreri,' who visited it in that 

 year, when the pines were about 60 ft. in height and 8 ft. in girth. There are three 

 distinct sections,— the Pineto di S. Vitale, about 5000 acres, and the Pineto di Classe, 

 about 2500 acres, which belong to the city of Ravenna; while the third, the Pineto 

 di Cervia, about 3000 acres, is owned by the commune of Cervia. This forest was 

 greatly damaged^ by the long and severe winter of 1879, when the thermometer fell 

 to - 10° or - 12' C, all the young pines, less than twenty-five to thirty years old, being 

 killed outright. The older trees, with their foliage brown and withered in the spring 

 of 1880, were believed to be dead ; and orders were given to fell them and sell the 

 timber. A large area was at once completely cut down. Later in the season, the 

 trees were observed to be still living, and the destruction was stopped. About 27CK) 

 acres remained untouched, and the old trees here are now thriving. About 5000 

 acres of the area which had been felled, was subsequently sown with seed ; and the 

 young pines are now flourishing and about 15 to 25 ft. in height. For the preceding 

 information we are indebted to M. Bandi, the forester in charge, whom I saw in 

 1909, when I visited the Pineto di Classe, which lies about 5 miles south-east of 

 Ravenna. The soil is sandy, but is said to contain a notable quantity of lime, 

 nearly five per cent. The forest is an open one, mainly composed of pines with a 

 few scattered oaks {Q. pedunculata), and an undergrowth of Cratcegus Pyracantha, 

 Rosa sempervirens, clematis, juniper, and bracken. Towards the margin, where the 

 soil improves, the pines become fewer, and are replaced by oak and Fraxinus 

 oxycarpa. The largest pines which I saw measured 70 to 80 ft. in height and 5 to 

 7 ft. in girth. 



In Italy the tree is cultivated for its edible seeds from the foot of the Alps to 

 Sicily, and is planted from sea -level up to 1000 ft. in the north and 2000 ft. 

 elevation in the south. The timber, which was formerly used for shipbuilding, is 

 no longer employed. 



According to Beck v. Mannagetta* it is scarcely wild on the eastern shore of 

 the Adriatic, and is even rarely planted, and only for ornament. Boud's observation 

 that it occurs in Herzegovina near the sea has not been confirmed ; and Poscharsky's 

 statement that it forms woods at Ragusa is erroneous. 



In Greece it is recorded* at many stations on sandy soil in the plains and on 

 the low hills, in Attica, Peloponnesus, and in the islands of the Cyclades, Crete, 

 Cephalonia, Zante and Corfu, It is common^ in the islands in the Sea of Marmora, 

 and the seeds are called y?j^«i by the Turks.'' 



1 It was described by Ginanai, in a large book published at Rome in 1774, entitled Istoria Civile et Naturak delle 

 Pinete Ravennati. "^ Pinete di Ravenna. (Florence, 1866.) 



3 In Gard. Chron. xv. 736 (i 88 1), and Woods and Forests, i. 146 (1884), there are accounts of this calamity. 

 1 Veget. illyrischen Liind. 185 (1901). 6 Halacsy, Consp. Fl. Grcecce, iii. 451 (1904). 



' Walsh, in Trans. Hort. Soc. vi. 47 (1826). 

 7 In Cyprus it is sometimes planted, but Mr. Hutchins thinks that it is not indigenous. 



