INTRODUCTION. 



The term Coniferse, or cone-bearing trees, is very expressive of 

 the Tribe to which the present Volume relates. 



Regarded from almost every point of view, this Tribe pos- 

 sesses great importance. In the northern regions its members 

 outnumber the common, broad-leaved trees, by about ten to 

 ooie ; they are most of them distinguished for majesty or sym- 

 metrical gracefulness ; and their timber, from its length, straight- 

 ness, and strength, is most valuable in the Arts. 



It is in North America that the most extensive Pine forests 

 are located ; some of the Pine barrens, as they are there called, 

 being from 300 to 500 miles in extent. Cajitain Hall states, 

 that while travelling in Georgia, sometimes when he came to a 

 high knoll which overlooked the surrounding country, nothing 

 could be seen but a vast ocean of Pines, stretching without a 

 break in every direction as far as the eye could reach. 



Perhaps, however, the most gigantic specimens exist in Cali- 

 fornia, and on the North-west Coast, where the dimensions of 

 some appear almost fabulous. Among these we may mention 

 more particularly Wellingtonia, Sequoia, and Picea nobilis, all 

 of which grow, in favourable situations, from 200 to 300 feet high. 



Immense Fir and Pine forests abound also in Sweden, Nor- 

 way, Russia, Poland, and Prussia ; " imagine (says Dr. E. D. 

 Clarke) the Gulf of Bothnia to be surrounded by one con- 

 tinuous unbroken forest, as ancient as the world, and consist- 

 ing of Pine-trees — then you will have a general and correct 

 notion of a real Pine forest." 



In the temperate and northern zones of Europe and Asia, 

 the Conifers enjoy a wide range, extending even to the regions 

 of perpetual snow. In South America, some kinds, sucli as 

 the Araucarias, differ considerably in general aspect from the 



