THE CORSICAN PINE 21 
some other species, the older shoots have their leaf- 
bearing dwarf shoots in tufts alternating with bare 
regions of stem. 
The female catkins or young cones are either 
solitary or two or three together at.the ends of the 
shoots of the preceding year, springing from the axil 
of a scale-leaf, as do the dwarf-shoots or leaf-spurs. 
They are reddish in colour, egg-shaped, about half an 
inch long, and borne on short stalks surrounded by: 
membranous scales. , Their. spirally-arranged bract- 
scales are not prominent and, at an -early stage, 
coalesce with the “cone-scales,” or “ ovuliferous 
scales,” in their axils. Each of these last terminates 
in a blunt, triangular point which persists as the 
“umbo,” or structural apex, of the mature cone-scale. 
The cones become two or three inches long and 
usually a little more than an inch in diameter above 
the base, reaching their full size in the November of 
the second year. When ripe they are of a tawny 
colour externally, polished and almost always curved 
towards the summit. The “apophysis” is rhomboidal 
with a transverse keel and a small central depression 
from which rises the very small terminal prickle or 
umbo already mentioned. When, in the April of 
the third year, the cone-scales spread outwards to 
liberate the now ripe seeds, they disclose a purplish 
inner surface. The seeds are oval, grey, or mottled 
with black, and twice as large as those of the Scots 
Fir. They have a reddish-brown wing three or four 
times as long as the seed and almost semi-elliptical in 
outline, being straight on one side and rounded on 
the other, and widening below the middle. This is, in 
