2176 AltBORfiTUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



in fives, rarely in fours or threes ; at first sheathed, afterwards 

 naked, very long, sharply triquetrous ; the 2 angles rough, cana- 

 liculate, sharp at the point. The wood of the cembra is light, soft, 

 white, resinous, loose in the fibres, not tough. The resin, which 

 may be collected in quantities, is somewhat of the odour of citron, 

 and is pellucid, yellowish, and hard. {Pall.) 

 1 P. C. 2 pygm<B y a; P. Cpumila Pall. Ross.; Slanez, Russ. — According to 

 Pallas, the trunk of this variety does not exceed 2 in. in thickness, 

 and it is rarely above 6 ft. in height ; the branches being not more 

 than 1 in. in diameter. Some specimens are much lower in height, 

 prostrate, and shrubby. The branches of this variety are more 

 slender, the bark rougher and yellower, and the leaves more crowded, 

 and shorter, than those of the species. The cones are scarcely larger 

 than those of P. sylvestris ; and the scales and seeds less than those 

 of P. C. sibirica. In the east of Siberia, this variety is found 

 covering rocky mountains, which are so barren, that herbage of no 

 kind will grow on them ; and also in valleys, where, however, it 

 never attains the size of a tree. Those found on the mountains are 

 much more resinous and balsamic. The young shoots are reckoned 

 an excellent antiscorbutic, and are much more agreeable in taste 

 than those of the ^4 v bies. Pallas had a specimen from Montanvert, 

 in Savoy, which resembled the Siberian variety in the number and 

 closeness of the leaves, only they were much thicker. (Pall.) There 

 is a plant at Dropmore which has been twenty years planted, and, in 

 1837, was not more than 6 in. high, which we presume to be this 

 variety. The same may be said of a tree in Hopetoun Gardens, 

 near Edinburgh, said to be upwards of 100 years old, and which, in 

 1836, only measured 5 ft. 6 in. high. 

 1 P. C. 3 helvetica Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; the Swiss, Cembran, or Stone 

 Pine ; has the cones short and roundish, with close scales ; and the 

 plants are of more vigorous growth than the Siberian variety ; the 

 wood, also, is said to be more fragrant. This is much the com- 

 monest form of P. Cembra in British gardens; and it has been 

 treated as a species by Du Hamel and Haller. In the Briancon- 

 nais, this variety is called Alvies ; and in Savoy, Aroles. In Dau- 

 phine, it has a different name in almost every village. (See Villars's 

 Plant es du Dauphine, iv. p. 807.) In Kasthofer's Voyage dans les 

 petits Cantons, et dans les Alpcs Rketicnnes, it appears that this 

 variety grows at the elevation of 6825 ft. above the level of the sea ; 

 and it vegetates there so slowly, that it does not increase more 

 than a span (9 in.) in height in six years. A tree, the trunk of 

 which was 19in. in diameter, when cut down, was found to have 

 353 concentric circles. The wood is very fragrant, and retains its 

 odour for centuries. In the ruins of the ancient Chateau of Tarasp, 

 Kasthofer found the greater number of the chambers ornamented 

 with this wood, which, after having remained there for centuries, 

 still continued to exhale its delicious perfume. (Voy. t &c, p. 196.) 

 This odoriferous property in the wood, while it is agreeable to 

 man, is so offensive to bugs and moths, as to deter them from 

 establishing themselves in rooms where it is used, either as wain- 

 scoting, or as furniture. When this variety of P. Cembra was in- 

 troduced into British gardens is uncertain, but it is now common in 

 the nurseries. 

 Description. In England, P. Cembra is an erect tree, with a straight 

 trunk, and a smooth bark. When standing singly, it is regularlj' furnished 

 to the summit with whorls of branches, which are more persistent than 

 the branches of most other species of /Ibietinae. The leaves are from 3 

 to 5 in a iheath, three-ribbed ; the ribs serrated, one of them green and 

 shining, and the other two white and opaque. In most species of pine, 



