Pinus 1 1 29 



in the Tyrol ; but it is not known to occur in the dwarf pine belt of the Silesian 

 and Carpathian ranges. Dwarf pines with cones of this type are sometimes seen in 

 exposed and barren spots in the western Alps, but these are supposed to be stunted 

 by the nature of the situation where they grow. 



2. Var. rotundata, Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 174 (1875). 



Cones asymmetrical and oblique, as in the preceding variety, conical or ovoid, 

 i^ to 2 in. long, spreading or bent downwards, sessile, with the lower and occasion- 

 ally the middle scales on the outer side ending in a short four-sided blunt pyramid, 

 directed slightly downwards. Usually a tree, scarcely exceeding 30 ft. in height, with 

 several stems arising close to the ground, due to the rapid development of the lateral 

 branches which turn upwards, and becoming erect, grow as fast as the leader. This, 

 which Sir John Stirling Maxwell calls the intermediate form ^ of the mountain pine, is 

 found on sunny precipices, rocky slopes, and high peat-mosses, and is common in the 

 whole of the Alps, except in France. The dwarf mountain pine in the Swiss Alps 

 often bears cones of this type. 



3. Ysx. pumilio, Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 175 (1875). 



A shrub, rarely over 6 ft. in height, prostrate in habit, with the branches tending 

 to lie flat on the ground, only turning up at the ends. No definite leader is formed. 

 Cones symmetrical, usually sub-sessile, ovoid or globose, smaller than in the preceding 

 varieties, i to i|- in. in diameter, spreading, tinged with violet before ripening ; 

 scales uniform in size ; apophysis unequally divided with the umbo placed near the 

 lower edge. This, one of the forms of the dwarf mountain pine, which comes true 

 from seed, occurs in the Jura, Switzerland, Black Forest, Fichtel mountains, Bohemian 

 and Bavarian forests, Riesen and Iser mountains, extending southward to Bosnia, 

 Herzegovina, and Montenegro. 



4. Var. mughus, Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 177 (1875). 



Similar to the last in habit, and in size, shape, and direction of the cones, and 

 only distinguishable by the apophysis of the scale being very flattened with the 

 umbo in the centre. This form is common in the eastern Alps and in the Balkan 

 States, and is very rare in Switzerland. 



Several hybrids between this species and P. sylvestris have been described, 

 which are arranged by Ascherson and Graebner ^ as follows : — 



(«) P. sylvestris, var. engadinensis x P. montatia, var. uncinata. Found in the 

 Upper Engadine, near Samaden, at 6000 ft. altitude. 



{b) P. sylvestris x P. montana, var. rotundata. Found in peat-mosses on the 

 boundary between Lower Austria and Bohemia and in southern Bohemia. 



(c) P. sylvestris x P. montana, var. pumilio. Found in the southern Bohemian 

 forest and in the Tyrol. 



■ This form was introduced into Denmark in 1798 from Eisenach, in Thuringia, and has kept true from seed. Occa- 

 sionally one of the stems takes the lead and suppresses the others, but in such cases the stem is always bent near the ground. 



2 Syn. mittekurop. Flora, i. 229 (1896-98). These authors (pp. cit. 232) state that a tree in the Botanic Garden at 

 Vienna, supposed by Wettstein to be a hybrid between P. Laricio, var. austriaca, and P. montana, has been shown by Beck 

 to be a pure Austrian pine. 



