CONIFERS. 



359 



brighter green than that of the common form. In 

 glauca, the branchlets are pale green during winter, 

 but of an almost silvery whiteness in the growing 

 season ; Schottii is a variety of pyramidal habit with 

 peculiarly bright green foliage. All the forms may 

 be increased from cuttings or by grafting on seedling 

 plants of the type. 



Larix (Larch). — All the Larches — there are seven 

 or eight species distributed over the temperate regions 

 of the Northern Hemisphere — are hardy in Britain. 

 All are deciduous trees with soft, linear, subulate, 

 light green leaves, and are valuable for landscape 

 effects on account of the peculiar bright yellowish- 

 green tint of the young growths in spring. Of all 

 Coniferous trees, too, the common Larch, L. Puropcea, 

 is the one which is most extensively planted in 

 Britain. A curious weeping form of this, pendula, is 

 well worth growing for ornament. L. leptolepis is 

 a Japanese species introduced by Mr. J. Gr. Yeitch 

 about twenty-five years ago ; it is inferior in all 

 respects to the common Larch. 



L. Americana, L. Lyattii, and L. occidentalis are 

 North American trees, which are hardly worth culti- 

 vating except in collections of trees. 



Libocedrus. — Of the eight known species of 

 this genus, only the Chilian, L. Chilensis, and the 

 Californian, L. decurrens, are hardy enough to merit 

 mention here ; the latter is an effective plant with 

 rich dark green foliage. It is quite hardy, with a 

 conical or columnar habit : in a wild state it grows 

 to a height of 100 or 150 feet, with a trunk four to 

 seven feet in diameter. L. Chilensis has bright 

 glaucous green, small pointed leaves, Avith a silvery 

 line on the under side ; this is not nearly so hardy 

 as L. decurrens, and should be planted in a sheltered 

 situation. 



Pinus. — There are about seventy species of Finns 

 distributed over the extra -tropical regions of the 

 Northern Hemisphere. All are evergreen trees with 

 branches more or less in whorls, and needle-like 

 leaves in clusters of two, three, or five. The number 

 of leaves in a sheath has generally been regarded as 

 a character sufficient for the classification of the 

 species; but a few years ago Dr. Engelmann pro- 

 posed a more natural arrangement, in which the 

 primary character resided in the fruit-scale, and 

 others in the position of the ducts within the leaf, 

 the lateral or terminal position of the cones, &c. 

 Only a few of the most distinct and useful of the 

 hardy Pines are given in the following list. 



P. Austriaca, the Austrian Pine, is a fast grower 

 with blackish-green leaves (two in a sheath) , four to 

 five inches long. It is a native of Eastern Europe, 

 and thrives in almost any soil. 



P. Cembra, a native of Central Europe and 

 Northern Asia, makes, in a wild state, a fine pyra- 

 midal tree, sometimes 100 feet high. The leaves 

 — in clusters of five — are from three to five inches 

 long, and are marked with silvery lines. It is a 

 slow-growing but very ornamental tree, either for 

 planting singly or in masses. 



P. Coulteri, or macrocarpa, is a remarkable Cali- 

 fornian tree, with huge cones and greyish glaucous 

 green leaves, in clusters of three, from nine to 

 twelve inches in length. 



P. excelsa has slender, drooping, glaucous, bluish- 

 green leaves, five in a sheath, and regularly 

 whorled spreading branches ; it is a native of the 

 Himalayan region, and thrives best in light, well- 

 drained soils. In height it ranges from 50 to 100 

 feet. One of the best of the ornamental Pines. 



P. msignis is a beautiful Californian species, with 

 slender, twisted, grass-green leaves, three in a sheath, 

 from four to six inches long. This is the only Pine 

 mentioned in these notes which is not quite hardy ; 

 it should be planted in a sheltered position. In the 

 south-western parts of Britain it thrives remarkably 

 well. 



P. Laricio, a native of Southern Europe, &c, is a 

 tall, fast-growing tree, nearly related to P. Austriaca. 

 It has twisted, glaucous foliage, often six inches long. 

 A curious variety, pygmcea, makes a dense dwarf 

 bush. 



P. montana is a native of the mountainous regions 

 of Europe, and occurs either as a dwarf, densely- 

 branched bush, or as a small tree ; it has short, close- 

 set, dull green leaves, arranged in twos. 



P. Pinaster, from the Mediterranean region, is a 

 beautiful pyramidal tree, allied to P. Austriaca and 

 P. Laricio. In some maritime districts in France it 

 has been extensively planted in order to bind the 

 shifting sands, and the resinous products have given 

 rise to an important branch of industry. 



P. Pinea, like the two last-named species, has the 

 leaves two in a sheath. It forms a fine tree, 50 or 

 60 feet high in its native habitats— the Mediterranean 

 region — but under cultivation in this country rarely 

 attains anything like this size ; it, however, makes a 

 handsome and picturesque tree, with a parasol-like 

 head. 



P. Strobus, or the Weymouth Pine, from the 

 Eastern Enited States, is a large tree, from 80 to 

 150 feet high, and is one of the section in which the 

 leaves are arranged in fives ; these are a soft light 

 green, marked with silvery lines, and are from three 

 to five inches long. Nana is a small form, with 

 leaves shorter than the type ; it makes a dense, 

 compact, bushy shrub. 



P. sylvestris, or Scotch Pine, the only Pine which 

 is a true native of Britain, is widely distributed 



