262 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



in a genus by itself, under the name of Pseudolarix, or False 

 Larch. It inhabits Northeastern China, at elevations of about 

 three thousand feet above the sea, where it grows to a hight of 

 a hundred and twenty feet, with a stem three feet in diameter. 

 The leaves grow in bundles, Hke the common Larch, but one to 

 two inches long, and the cones nearly three inches long, with 

 thick, woody, somewhat divergent scales. The leaves in spring 

 are of a pale pea-green color, becoming darker in summer, and 

 changing to a bright golden color in autumn. A catkin bear- 

 ing twig is shown in fig. 55, the leaves somewhat reduced in 

 size. This is as yet a rather scarce tree, in both Eiu'opea>n and 

 Ameiican gardens, although it was introduced into England in 

 1852, and soon after into the United States, but owing to the 

 difficulty of procuring seed, and propagating by other means, 

 the number produced has been quite limited. 



piKUS^ Toiirnefort. — Pme, 



An extensive genus of evergreen trees, containing a larger 

 number of species than any other of the coniferous group. 

 There are in all between sixty and seventy species described in 

 botanical works, eleven of which belong to our Atlantic States, 

 fifteen to the Rocky Mountain regions, and westward to the 

 Pacific, and about the same number to Mexico and the West 

 Indies — the remainder to the Old World, extending from Great 

 Britain to China and Japan. Some of the species thrive in the 

 poorest and lightest soils, which are almost worthless for agri- 

 cultural purposes, while others grow on rocky cliffs and in 

 bleak and exposed situations or among stone that are merely 

 covered with a thin fihn of vegetable matter. The genus as a 

 whole may be said to contribute more to the comfort, welfare 

 and prosperity of civilized man than any other order or class of 

 forest trees, while occupying the least valuable portions of the 

 earth's surface. 



Flowers monoecious, male catkins exceedingly numerous in 

 spikes or clusters, female catkins solitary, or several together, 

 and scales much longer than the bracts. Fruit a cone, matur- 

 ing the second year, spreading or reflexed, rarely erect, and com- 

 posed of woody imbricated scales. Seeds nut-like, situated in 

 an excavation or depression at the base of the scales, mostly 

 winged, but the wings only persistent in a few species. The 

 cones of many of the species remain attached to the branches 

 until they decay and fall to pieces when several years old. 

 Leaves needle-shaped, cylindrical or somewhat triangular, in 



