20 A MANUAL OF THE CON1FER.E. 



around the trunk at close irregular intervals, and are generally 

 spreading, but there are many kinds whose branches grow as 

 upright as the trunk, and give the trees a fastigiate habit. 



In the Abietinese and Taxodiae the lower branches are cast off at a 

 very early age, if the trees are in a confined situation or in close 

 proximity to one another; but they are retained for many years if the 

 trees stand singly with a free circulation of air around them. 



In most of the species the branches ramify from their sides only, 

 the branchlets divide and sub-divide in the same way, so that the 

 entire bough is flat or frondose. This flatness is remarkable in 

 some kinds, as the Cedar of Lebanon, the Torreyas, some of 

 the Silver Firs and Araucarias, in which the branches and their 

 appendages are quite rigid, and give the tree a stiff and formal 

 appearance. In many other kinds the primary branch remains 

 more or less rigid, while the appendages are flexible and pendulous 

 as the Deodar Cedar, the Larches, and the Himalayan and Hemlock 

 Spruces. In the true Pines, the branchlets are whorled like their 

 primaries, and are produced from the termination of each year's 

 growth. In some of the Cypresses, Junipers, and a few others, 

 the secondary branchlets are produced on all sides of their primaries, 

 and at acute angles to them, giving the tree a dense, compact, 

 or bushy habit. 



Leaves. — The Leaves present much diversity in form and arrange- 

 ment. In form, narrowness in comparison with length is the prevailing 

 characteristic in most of the species cultivated in Great Britain; 

 but there are some broad-leaved kinds not hardy in this country, 

 as the Dammaras of Australia and the Bast Indian Archipelago. 

 In the true Pines the leaves are linear or filiform, in some species 

 exceeding a foot in length, and of extreme tenuity;* in others, not 

 exceeding one inch;t in Abies they are linear, or linear-lanceolate, 

 tetragonal or flattened, with then' points acute, blunt, or emarginate. 

 In Cedrus, Larix, and many of the Junipers, they are acicular or 

 needle-shaped and straight; in Cryptomeria, and in some of the 

 Araucarias, they are acicular and curved; in Taxodium, the Eed 

 Wood, and in most of the Yew tribe they are linear, flattened, 

 and pointed, and, in the Torreyas, terminated by a sharp spine or 

 * As in Finns hngifolia, an Indian species. t As in Pinus parviflora,. &c, 



