THE TRUE PINES. 249 



No. 18. PiNUS Pinaster, Aiton, the Star, or Cluster Pine. 

 Syn. Piaus Massoniana, Lwrnhert, not Siebold. 



„ Nepalensis, Moyle. 

 Latteri, Madden. 

 maritima, Lamarck, 



„ Japonica, Loudon. 



„ Chinensis, Knight 



„ Nova-Hollandica, Loddiges. 



„ Nova-Zealandica, Loddiges. 



„ St. Helenica, Loudon. 



„ Syrtica, Thore. 



„ neglecta, Low. 

 Leaves in twos, dark green, six to eight inches long, rigid, 

 broad, and very stout, slightly serrated on the margins, and 

 thickly set on the branches in dense whorls. Sheaths three- 

 quarters of an inch long, imbricated, and pale yellow when 

 young, but turning nearly black when old. Buds three-quarters 

 of an inch long, white, woolly, imbricated, and non-resinous, 

 with the scales turned back at the points. Cones from four to 

 six inches long, and two inches' and a half wide at the broadest 

 part, which is below the middle, and of a light shining brown 

 colour, and growing in clusters of from four to eight, but some- 

 times more in number, iti. a horizontal direction, and without 

 any foot-stalks. Scales from one to one inch and a quarter in 

 length, and three-quarters of an inch broad, terminating in an 

 unequally four-sided pyramid, of a gray-ash colour, very hard, 

 and with a small sharp point, more particularly on the upper 

 part of the cone. Seeds oblong, with wings one inch and a 

 half long, and nearly half an inch broad. Seed-leaves from 

 seven to eight in number. 



■ A large tree, attaining a height of from fifty to seventy feet, 

 with the branches in regular whorls, turned up at the extremi- 

 ties, and thickly set with foliage a,t intervals of three' or four 

 inches, occasioned by the shedding of the male flowers. This 

 species and its varieties mostly grow in the sandy plains on the 



