CONIFER-E. TEE PINTJS, Oil PINE TREE. 
77 
CONIFER^.— The Pinus, or Pine Tree. 
Pinus, Linnceus (the Pine). — The deriva- 
tion of this name is doubtful ; probably from 
the Greek root pion, signifying fatty matter, 
the trees furnishing the pitch, tar, &c., of com- 
merce ; or, as Dr. Theis thinks, from the 
Celtic pin or pen, a mountain or rock, whence 
the little Apennines, the Pennine Alps, &c. 
The Gallic pinwidden means a mountain tree, 
and this may certainly be considered as a good 
basis for the generic name. 
* Leaves in pairs. 
a. Scales of cones truncate at apex or 
blunt at summit. 
Pinus sylvestris, Linnaeus (wood Pine, or 
Scotch Fir). — This species has two leaves 
in each sheath, but in the young plant the 
leaves come out singly. When full grown, 
they are from two to three inches in length, 
of a light bluish-green colour, concave or 
hollow in the centre of the upper side, and of 
course the reverse on the under. The buds 
are about half an inch long, bluntly pointed, of 
a brown-red colour, but, in some instances. 
whitened with resin. Flowers erect, the 
males aggregate, sulphur coloured, and soon 
surmounted by a branch : females solitary, of 
a purple and green colour. Cones, when full 
grown, from two to three inches in length, of 
a deep green, but when exposed to frost they 
become white. The seeds are brown and 
dark-coloured. A native of the elevated 
northern districts of Scotland, where it attains 
an age of 500 years, or more. 
As this Pine forms the most valuable tree 
to mankind throughout Britain, it demands a 
longer notice and description than the others. 
The species enjoys a wide geographical range, 
growing almost everywhere, being found in 
abundance throughout Europe, Asia, and 
America, crowning the heights, and filling 
the valleys, in every description of clime, 
losing and retaining its vigorous appearance, 
according to the situation which it may happen 
to affect, yet admirably bearing out its cha- 
racter of being a true denizen of the world. 
But though thus widely scattered over the 
face of the earth, its proper seat is on the 
mountains vast and rude. This; is certainly 
nature's distribution of the species, and though 
it may grow on the hot savannahs of India, it 
is as much out of its element in such situa- 
tions, as the osier is when placed on the bleak 
hill-top. In warm countries, where the tem- 
perature rises above a certain degree, the 
compound of the juices becomes deranged, 
and the oil which pervades its bark, flies off in 
the shape of vapour. All such timber, there- 
fore, is deficient in hardness and durability ; 
a fact which may be tested even in this 
country by any one who has plantations on 
two sides of a hill, the timber on the southern 
exposure being rather softer than that pro- 
duced on the northern side. 
Properly speaking, this pine has no com- 
munion whatever with other trees having 
broad leaves. In a state of nature, it is found 
alone, delighting in light sandy places, with 
dry shattery bottoms, or even in a substratum 
of rock. Viewed in such a situation, the tree 
is a tall, towering object, not soon dying down, 
and affording the best of timber. 
