THE SCOTCH FIR OR PINE. 



355 



last year's shoots, and producing pollen in great 

 abundance. The fertile catkins grow most fre- 

 quently in pairs at the summit of the new shoots, 

 and gradually assume the form of cones, which are 

 not ripe until eighteen months old. They are 

 stalked, brown, rugged, and more or less tapering 



to a point. In the autumn of the second year 

 they begin to open at the extremity, and shed the 

 seeds, which are situated in pairs at the base of 

 each scale : they are small, and furnished each 

 with a long membranous wing. 



