PINACE^. 



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forms or varieties of the Strobiis Pine there is something so very appre- ; 



ciable in the port and features, something so characteristic in the dis- 1 

 position of the branches, something so peculiar in the summer and 



winter disposition of the leaves, and something so yet more remarkable j 



in the ligneous tissues and resinous juices of all of them when produced i 



under precisely the same conditions ; that by a summary system of ] 



stenography they can all be described at once. | 



Leaves, generally five in a sheath, exceptionally three, four, six, or ; 



seven ; rarely more or less in number ; from three to fifteen inches . 



long, generally spreading in summer, and drooping in winter ; more or i 



less slender, soft, glaucous, silvery, curved, twisted, and channelled; i 



and in colour light, dark, greyish, bluish, whitish, silvery, or shining j 



green. ] 



Cones, from three to fifteen inches long, and from one to four j 



inches diameter at broadest part ; cylindrical in form, long and rope- j 



like, slightly tapering to the point ; singly, twos, threes, or in whorls j 

 or clusters upon the branches ; more or less curved, exceptionally 



straight, but very rarely entirely so ; some horizontally disposed, but \ 



most of them drooping ; green when young, but transforming them- j 



selves to a brownish*colour when they arrive at maturity : the scales are i 

 thin, numerous, and beautifully overlaying or imbricated ; the seeds 



generally small, but of various sizes, and all of them furnished with a . 



comparatively large winged appendage. | 



Branches, in whorls, verticillately disposed on the stem, but some- ^ 



what enlarged and twisted at the junction ; rather thinly clothed with : 



foliage ; the bark smooth and shining when young, when old smooth \ 



and ashy-coloured. ; 



The Leaves of the prototype Strohus are from three to five inches . 



long, of a light bluish-green colour : the Coiies are from five to seven ' 

 inches long, and from one to one and-a-half inches broad, cylindrical 



in form but tapering to point. There is not one of the quasi-species, i 



or varieties of it so thoroughly hardy, and accommodating as to soil ] 

 and situation, and so well adapted for general planting as a timber tree 

 in this country, as is this Strobus Pine itself ; though it, and all its 



progeny are vastly inferior to such a pine as the Corsican. Of its • 



quasi-species none is better adapted for general planting than its Indian i 



form excelsa ; which grows well in a variety of soils and is sufficiently j 



hardy for our climate : most of its large and most beautiful forms and | 



varieties are much too tender for the British Isles ; while some of the ■ 



more dwarf and mountain forms, are more hardy and accommodating. \ 



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