316 



A MANUAL OF THE CONIFEK2E. 



is slow, its habit unsymmetrical, and it will only live in sheltered 

 spots where there is good soil. Its claim to a place in the garden 

 rests on its distinct character and the scientific interest attached to it. 



VI— PKUMNOPITTS (PMUppi). The Plum-fruited Tew. 



It is not without hesitation that we retain the separate generic 

 rank assigned to this beautiful Taxad by Professor Philippic of 

 Santiago, in which he is followed by Carriere,* but not by Parlatore,f 

 by whom it- is included in the Podocarps, to which it is undoubtedly 

 very closely allied. The habit the Prumnopitys assumes in this 

 country, and its Tew-like foliage being quite distinct from every 

 Podocarp in cultivation, we have thought it best to adhere to the 

 name by which it is universally known among British horticulturists. 



Prumnopitys, from irpovfivog (proumnos), " the wild plum," and ttctvq 

 (pitys), "the pine tree." 



Prumnopitys elegans on its native mountains resembles in habit 

 a well-grown specimen of Abies Douglasi. It attains a height of 

 from 40 to 50 feet:, well furnished with branches, the lower ones 

 drooping, often sweeping the ground and hiding the trunk of the 

 tree with a peculiarly rich and abundant foliage. The leaves are 

 linear, flattened from half to three quarters of an inch long, sub- 

 distichously arranged, deep bright green above and slightly glaucous 

 beneath. The fruit resembles in form and size, the berry of an 

 ordinary white grape, but in structure that of a cherry, the kernel 

 being contained in a hard stone or nut surrounded by a soft fleshy 

 pulp enclosed in a tough rind. The ripe fruit, both fresh and 

 dried, is eaten in large quantities by the natives, and has by no 

 means a disagreeable flavour. The wood is hard, dark red in colour 

 and susceptible of a high polish. 



Halifat. — The Andes of Valdivia, Southern Chili, at from 4,500 to 

 6,000 feet elevation. 



* TmiU Giniral des Coniffres, p. 682. t Prod., xvi., p. 519. 



