GIGANTIC PINE. 
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light brown bark. The pendulous branches form an open 
pyramidal head, like that of a fir-tree. The leaves are 
between 4 and 5 inches long and grow together, like the 
strobus in clusters of 5, with similar short, deciduous 
sheathes ; they are rigid, of a bright-green colour, but not 
shining, with the margin slightly scabrous to the touch. 
The cones hang pendulous from the ends of the branches, 
and are two years in acquiring their full growth, they are 
at first erect, and do not droop until the second year; when 
ripe they are about 1 1 inches in circumference at the thickest 
part, and vary from 12 to 16 inches in length ! The scales 
are loosely imbricated, dilated and rounded above, and per- 
fectly destitute of armature. The seeds are 8 lines long 
and 4 broad, oval, and like those of the Stone Pine, the 
kernels are sweet and pleasant to the taste ; the wing is 
about twice the length of the seed, and the seed leaves are 
from 12 to 13. 
The -whole' tree produces an abundance of pure amber 
coloured resin, which, when it exudes from trees which are 
partly burnt, by some chemical change, loses its usual 
flavour and acquires a sweet taste, in which state .it is used 
by the natives as sugar to flavour their food. The seeds, 
(like those of the Cembra in Siberia,) are eaten roasted, or 
pounded into coarse cakes for winter food. 
Its timber, like that of the White Pine, is white, soft, 
and light, abounding in turpentine reservoirs and has a 
specific gravity of 0.463. The annual layers are very 
narrow, presenting 56 in the space of inches on the 
external side. 
It is allied to P. strobus, from which, however, it is 
essentially distinct, but almost equally hardy in cultiva- 
tion. 
Plate CXIV. 
Cone half of the natural size. a. The leaves. 
