290 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



nrc two years m acquir- 

 ing their full growth ; 

 the) arc at first upright, 

 and do not begin to 

 droop till the second 

 year. When young, they 

 have a very taper figure. 

 When ripe, they are 

 about 1 1 in. in circum- 

 ference at the thickest 

 part, and vary from 12in. 

 to 16 in. in length. The 

 scales are lax, rounded 

 at the apex, and per- 

 fectly destitute of pric- 

 kles : the seeds large, 

 8 lines long, and 4 broad; 

 oval ; and, like those of 

 the P. Pinea, their ker- 

 nels are sweet, and very 

 pleasant to the taste. 

 The wing is membranaceous, of a dolabriform figure, and fuliginous colour, 

 about twice as long as the seed ; it has an innumerable quantity of minute 

 sinuous vessels, filled with a crimson substance, and forming most beautiful 

 microscopic objects. The embryo has 12 or 13 cotyledons. The whole 

 tree produces an abundance of pure amber-coloured resin. Its timber is 

 white, soft, and light; it abounds in turpentine reservoirs; and its specific 

 gravity has been ascertained, from a specimen sent to England, to be 0*463. 

 The annual layers are very narrow : in the above specimen, there were 56 

 in the space of 4i in. next the outside. The species to which this pine is 

 most nearly allied is, undoubtedly, P. Strobus, from which, however, it is ex- 

 tremely different in station, habit, and parts of fructification." (Dougl. in 

 Linn. Tram., xv. p. 499.) 



Geography, History t fyc. This species " covers large districts about 100 miles 

 from the ocean, in lat. 43° N., and extends as far to the south as 40°." It first 

 came under the notice of Douglas in August, 1825, while at the head waters 

 of the Multnomah river. In October, 1826, continues Douglas, "it was my 

 good fortune to meet with it beyond a range of mountains running in a south- 

 western direction from the Rocky Mountains towards the sea, and terminating 

 at the Cape Orford of Vancouver. It grows sparingly upon low hills, and the 

 undulating country east of the range of mountains just mentioned, where the 

 soil consists entirely of pure sand, and in appearance is incapable of supporting 

 iregetation. Mere it attains its greatest size, and perfects its fruit inmost 

 abundance. The trees do not form dense forests, as most of the other pines 

 which clothe the face of North-west America ; but, likeP.resinosa, which grows 

 among them, they are scattered singly over the 

 plains, and may be considered to form a sort of 

 connecting link between the gloomy forests of the 

 north and the more tropical-looking verdure of 

 California." (Ibid., p. 498.) Plants were raised 

 of this species in the Horticultural Society's Gar- 

 den in 1827, and distributed in the following year ; 



but it ii remarkable that the greater part of them 

 nee died, generally when they were about 



} ft. or 5 ft. in height. Notwithstanding this, the 



not appear to be nun h more tender 



than P. .S'frobu-,. The largest existing plant that, 



■>■■ ''I is in the garden o£ William Wells, Esq., at Redleaf, where, having 



in IS^f;, it. is J Oft. 2 in. high. One in the Chiswiek Garden, sown 

 lame year, and of which ///;. 2207. is a portrait, is oidy 6 ft. 6 in. high. 



