WELLINGTON!! GIGANTEA. 



205 



the circuit of the stem, and loosely appressed to it in the young 

 plants, but shorter, stouter, and rather closely imbricated in older 

 ones ; they are subulate or awl-shaped, embracing the stem at the 

 base, mucronate or pointed, rounded at the back, flat or slightly 

 concave within, glaucous light green when young, deepening in colour 

 by age. The cones are ovoid, obtuse both at base and apex, from 



Pig. 48— Fertile bracchlet of Wellingtonia gigantea, grown at Linton Tark. Natural size. 



2 to 2i inches long, and about 1* inch broad in the thickest part, 

 bearing spreading scales large in proportion to the size of the cone, 

 and arranged spirally around a thick axis, which is a continuation 

 of the solid wood of the branch on which it is borne. The number 

 of seeds on each scale varies from five to nine. 



