PINETUM DANICUM. 



46i 



sense. It is easily recognised even without the cones, its source of 

 origin is known, and there is little or none of the ambiguity and 

 imperfect knowledge concerning it which are so fruitful in differences 

 of opinion and so productive of vexatious synonyms in other cases. 

 It was introduced to England by William Lobb, who in a letter to 

 Messrs. Veitch, written from California, says: "This beautiful and 

 singular tree forms here the most conspicuous ornament of the 

 arborescent vegetation. On the western slopes, towards the sea, it 

 occupies the deepest ravines, and attains a height of 120 to 150 feet, 

 and 1 to 2 feet in diameter. The trunk is as straight as an arrow ; the 

 lower branches decumbent ; the branches of the upper part are 

 numerous, short, and thickly set, forming a long tapered pyramid 

 or spire, which gives to the tree that peculiar appearance which is not 

 seen in any other kinds of the Pinus tribe. When standing far apart, 

 and clear from surrounding trees, the lower branches frequently 

 reach the ground, and not a portion of the trunk is seen from the base 

 to the top. 



"Along the summit of the central ridges, and about the highest 

 peaks, in the most exposed and coldest places imaginable, where no 

 other Pine makes its appearance, it stands the severity of the climate 

 without the slightest perceptible injury, growing in slaty rubbish, 

 which to all appearance is incapable of supporting vegetation. In 

 such situations it becomes stunted and bushy, but even then the 

 foliage maintains the same beautiful dark green colour, and when 

 seen at a distance it appears more like a handsomely grown Cedar 

 than a Pine. No doubt it is one of the hardiest trees of the 

 Californian vegetation, and is equally well adapted for clothing the 

 mountain tops as the sheltered valley. 



" The cones, too, are quite as singular as the growth is beautiful ; 

 when fully developed the scales, as well as the long leaf-like bracts, 

 are covered with globules of thin transparent resin, presenting to the 

 eye a curious and striking object. 



"Douglas was mistaken in saying that this Fir does not occur below 

 6,000 feet of elevation. On the contrary, it is found as low as 

 3,000 feet, where it meets Taxodium sempervirens.^^ 



Later on the tree was met with by Beardsley, who, in the Pinetum 

 Britannicum," gives the following particulars concerning it : — 



" I have never seen any description that does justice to this most 

 beautiful of all the Firs. It rises to the height of 130 feet, straight 

 as a line, the trunk tapering regularly from the ground to the top ; 

 clothed with branches which are slim and graceful down to the ground ; 

 the outlines of the branches taper almost as regularly as the trunk, 

 giving the appearance of an elongated pyramid, as Hartweg describes 

 it ; but I would rather call it a tall spire, with a pyramidal base of 

 two-thirds of the lower part of the tree. The pencil of the artist 

 could not give it a more regular shape than it appears in nature. I 



