NAT. ORDER. 
Coniferce. 
PINUS BALSAMEA. BALM OF GILEAD FIR. 
Class XXI. MoNCECiA. Order VIII. Monadelphia. 
Gen. Char. Male flower in a catkin. Calyx, none. Corolla, none. 
Stamens numerous, on a small stalk. 
Female flower in a catkin, or cone of close, rigid, two-lipped, two- 
flowered scales. Seeds, two to each scale, ringed. 
Spe. Char. Leaves solitary, flat, imperfectly two-ranked. Cones 
cylindrical, erect, with sharp-pointed scales. Crest of the an- 
thers pointless. 
This species of pine forms a very beautiful tree, varying in 
height from thirty to fifty feet ; the trunk, which measures from 
twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, is straight, and covered with a 
sniooth, whitish gray bark; the leaves are very fragrant, disposed 
on either side of the branches, like the teeth of a comb ; they are 
solitary, flat, linear, short, not exceeding eight lines in length, and 
pointed ; of a bright green on their upper surface, paler beneath, 
and marked with whitish lines ; the male catkins are ovate ; the 
crest of the anthers kidney-shaped, pointless, or furnished with 
short spines, but never bifid ; the females with numerous ovate, 
notched, pointed bracteas ; the cones, which stand erect upon the 
branches, are large, nearly cylindrical, and when full grown, of a 
beautiful, deep, glossy, purple color, inclining to black, and exu- 
ding a great quantity of transparent resin, which gives them a 
very beautiful appearance. Figure a represents a female catkin ; 
Z) a male catkin; c scales of a catkin; d its brae teolae ; e the an- 
thers ; f scale of a cone. 
Vol. Li.— 39 
