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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



PINUS 



produced in the British Islands. The 

 plant must therefore be increased by- 

 imported seeds, or by cuttings of the half- 

 ripened shoots inserted in summer in 

 sandy soil with a little bottom heat, or 



even in cold frames or under hand- 

 lights. 



There is a so-called variegated form 

 in which some of the leaves are of a 

 more yeUow-green than in the type. 



Tribe VI. — Abietine^e (Pines, Cedars, Spruces, Larches, and Firs). — Trees 

 with evergreen or rarely deciduous linear leaves spirally arranged, but apparently in 

 2 or more rows, or in tufts. Flowers monoecious. Cones mostly woody with spirally 

 arranged imbricating scales, each having 2 winged inverted seeds. 



PINUS (Pine Tkee).— A large genus a height of 100 ft. or more, at elevations 



of evergreen trees having needle-like 

 leaves in tufts or clusters of 2, 3, or 5. 

 Flowers monosoious, male ones in catkins 

 in dense masses, the female ones solitary 

 or in whorls at the ends of the branches. 

 Cones woody, ripening the second year, 

 usually sessile, solitary or in clusters, 

 slightly erect, horizontal, or drooping. 

 Seeds oval with a hardy bony shell, with 

 or without large wings. Seed-leaves 

 variable in number, 3-sided. 



Culture and Propagation. — The Pines 

 constitute the largest genus in the Conifer 

 family and exhibit a good deal of variety 

 in habit, height, and beauty. Most of 

 them are hardy in the British Islands, 

 and there is scarcely a spot where at 

 least some one species wUl not flourish. 

 Generally speaking Pine trees flourish in 

 rich loamy soU, but many thrive also in 

 poor sandy soil, and others prefer a moist 

 spot. They are usually increased by seeds 

 sown in prepared beds in March and 

 April, and more or less lightly covered 

 vsdth fine soil according to the size of the 

 seed. By sowing the seeds 6 in. or so 

 apart in rows the seedlings need not be 

 disturbed for a couple of years and wiU 

 make good growth ; but if sown thickly 

 they require to be transplanted the next 

 season, or else thinned out. Choice and 

 variegated kinds of which seeds cannot 

 be obtained are increased by grafting on 

 stocks of their own species. The amateur 

 wlU find it better to obtain strong sturdy 

 Pines from a nurseryman than attempt 

 to raise them himself, unless he has a 

 large garden or plantation, and can afford 

 to wait until his seedlings become large 

 enough for the purpose he has in view. 



The following is a list of Pines most 

 usually met with in gardens, although 

 some others are naturally to be found in 

 the Pinetum at Kew : — 



P. Ayacahuite (P. strohiliformis^ dc). 

 A large and handsome Pine, native of 

 Mexico and Guatemala, where it attains 



of 7000-11,000 ft. The slender 3-Bided 

 leaves are 6-7 in. long, and the slender 

 cylindrical tapering cones about 9 in. 

 long and 2 in. in diameter, drooping when 

 fully grown and having broad ovate im- 

 bricating wrinkled scales with a blunt 

 recurved point. 



Culture dc. as above. This rare 

 species' is safer grown in warm and 

 sheltered localities, and is probably not 

 hardy enough north of the Tweed. 



P. banksiana (P. hudsonica). — Scruh 

 Pine. — A pretty and very hardy tree, 

 20-70 ft. high, native of the N.E. United 

 States and the eastern slopes of the Bocky 

 Mountains, usually found growing in 

 barren sandy soil, but occasionally in rich 

 loam. It has stifiish divergent leaves 

 about 1 in. long, and cones about 2 in. 

 long, usually curved, erect, or patulous, 

 with pointless scales, which remain closed 

 often for many years. 



Culture dec. as above. 



P. bungeana (P. excorticata). — White 

 baric or Lace-barh Pine. — A distinct Pine, 

 native of N. China, with long slender 

 glaucous-grey branches, covered with 

 smooth bark which ultimately peels oil in 

 flakes or flat patches as in the Birch or 

 Plane. The young shoots are bluish-green 

 and the bright green stiffish leaves are 

 3-4 in. long and somewhat 3-angled. The 

 bluntly ovoid cones are 2-3 in. long, the 

 scales having a transverse ridge at the top, 

 from the centre of which a small hooked 

 prickle juts out. 



Culture dc. as above. This species is 

 quite hardy. Cultivated specimens are 

 from 10 to 20 ft. high. 



P. Cembra (Swiss Stone Pine). — A 

 beautiful symmetrical Pine 50-150 ft. 

 high, native of the Alps and Carpathian 

 Mountains, having 3-sided and 3-angled 

 slender flexible leaves 2-5 in. long, marked 

 with silver Hnes, and ovoid erect cones 

 3-4 in. long, the smooth scales of which 



