CONIFEKiE. 



125 



PiNUS PiNCEANA : Pince's Mexican Pine. 



Vide "Pinetum," by George Gordon, A.L.S., page 204, ISTo. 40. 



PiNUS PiNEA : The Nut, or Stone Pine. 



This, although an useless Pine in Britain, is one of my prototypes, 

 and must needs be described. 



Leaves, generally two in a sheath, from three to nine inches long ; 

 strong, straight, and of a deep shining green in colour ; on young 

 plants the primary leaves are disposed in single bracts, or scale-like 

 formations, minus sheaths, thickly covering the branchlets, and from 

 amongst this primitive spray the perfect leaves gradually emerge ; 

 which, when young, and for a time, are white and glaucous-like ; which 

 presents a very striking contrast to their form, size, colour, and disposi- 

 tion, when old and matured. 



Cones, from four to six inches in length ; ovate or round in form ; 

 solid, somewhat reflexed ; glossy and pale brown in colour. The scales 

 are large, thick, angular, four- ribbed or six-sided, with a blunt spine on 

 their apex. The seeds also are large, ovate-oblong in form, white, 

 sweet, and palatable. The shell hardy, woody, from half an inch to 

 an inch long, with a broad but short wing, and brownish-red in 

 colour. 



Branches, spreading, and, when old, well clothed with deep green 

 foliage, forming a round or bushy tree, with a reddish-coloured bark, 

 which is sometimes cracked and furrowed. 



It is an European species, its present native habitat being the South, 

 along the Mediterranean coast, at elevations ranging up to fifteen 

 hundred feet ; and it is much cultivated in Italy, and other European 

 countries, in many of which the seeds or nuts form an article of 

 commerce. 



It attains heights of from fifteen to fifty feet ; its wood is of indif- 

 ferent quality ; it is of slow and tardy growth, and requires a dry, 

 sandy soil, a warm locality, and a sheltered situation in this country, as 

 an ornamental Pine, for it is of no use as a timber tree. It was intro- 

 duced more than three centuries ago, and, like most of the proto- 

 types, it is not only encumbered with quasi-species, but likewise with 

 varieties, amongst which are : — Arct lea (dwavf mountain form), Brevi- 

 folia (short-leaved), Chinensis (Chinese form), Fragilis, (thin shell 

 seeded), and Variegata (the variegated). 



PiNUS PoNDEROSA: The Heavy-Wooded Pine. 



Introduced from Xorth America nearly forty years ago. 



Leaves, generally three in a sheath, from six to twelve inches long ; 



