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AMERICAN CEMBRA PINE. 
very short sheath, and are rather short and stiff, perfectly 
even on the margin, triangular and glaucous within. The 
anthers have a small filiform bifid or trifid crest. The 
young cone is almost acutely ovate, greenish and smooth, 
with thick protuberant scales which exude a clear resin. 
The older cone is thick and ovate, the scales stout and 
woody, about twice the length of the seeds which are as 
large nearly as peas and without wings, except in an early 
stage, the scales are terminated by small umbilical eleva- 
tions but have no prickles ; on the lower portion of the 
cone they also project considerably. The seeds are agree- 
able and eaten by the natives and the hunters who frequent 
the mountains. 
So nearly is this species allied to the Pinus Cembra, or 
Siberian Stone Pine, that we were for sometime doubtful 
whether it was more than a variety of it. Like that spe- 
cies it produces wingless seeds which are eatable, the 
leaves of both are in fives, but in Cembra they are serru- 
late, in ours even and more rigid. The cones of both are 
very much alike, but in the present the scales which com- 
pose them are twice as long as the seeds, in Cembra they 
are much shorter, and when young pubescent ; the nut in 
Cembra is also probably larger. 
According to Pallas the Cembra is found on the western 
side of the Uralian mountains, and in the northern and 
alpine parts of Siberia, it is of frequent occurrence, some- 
times with other species, at other times forming by itself 
extensive tracts of forest. A dwarf variety exists through- 
out Kamtshatka. The trunk of the ordinary kind is per- 
fectly erect, nearly free from branches to the summit, and 
not unfrequently attains the height of 120 feet, with a 
diameter of 3 feet near the root. The nuts are sent to all 
parts of Russia as dainties, and are greedily sought by 
various wild animals. In Siberia the seeds of the Cembra 
are sometimes produced in immense quantities, at which 
