CONIFERiE. THE PINUS, OR PINE TREE. 
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lous, mostly solitary, from four to five inches 
long, and an inch and a half broad at the base, 
slightly curved, with slightly elevated scales, 
half an inch broad ; seeds small, with narrow 
wings. 
A handsome tree, found sparingly on the 
colder parts of the Cerro de San Juan, or 
Saddle mountain, near Tepic, in Mexico, 
where it grows from sixty to eighty feet high. 
The branches are numerous, regular, not very 
robust, with very scaly non-resinous buds of 
moderate size. This pine has the longest and 
finest foliage of any kind yet introduced. 
The cones are quite destitute of resin. In 
Mexico the natives call it " ocote hembra" 
or female pine. It has been recently (1846) 
raised in the garden of the Horticultural 
Society from seeds sent by Mr. Hartweg, and 
is expected to prove hardy. 
b. Scales of cones thickened and spiny at 
apex. 
Pinus occidentalis, Swartz (West Indian 
Pine). — Leaves five, about seven inches long, 
slender, of a pale green ; sheaths about half 
an inch in length, remaining on the branches. 
Cones ovate, oblong, half the length of the 
leaves, stalked, with rounded angular scales, 
terminated by a small sharp prickle. 
A native of the mountains of St. Domingo, 
about 6,000 feet above the sea, where the 
climate is cold. Notwithstanding this, it does 
not stand the open air in England, though in 
the south of France it is expected to become 
acclimatized. 
Pinus macrophylla, Lindley (long-leaved 
Pine). — -Leaves in fives, robust, very long 
(fifteen inches). Cones scattered over the tree 
singly, about six inches long and three inches 
across near the base, of an ovate tapering 
form, with scales surmounted with strong 
hooked blunt prickles. 
A native of the north of Mexico, on moun- 
tains, where it assumes the character of a small 
tree only. 
c. Scales of cones flat and compressed at 
the apex. 
Pinus excelsa, Wallich (lofty or Bhotan 
Pine). — Leaves five together, six to seven 
inches long, loose, slender, glaucous green, 
narrow, and pendulous. Cones longer than 
the leaves, smooth, cylindrical, attenuated 
towards the apex, and surmounted with broad 
shining, light brown, wedge-shaped scales. 
Young buds conical, ending in a some- 
what sharp point. Seeds ovate, with a bony 
covering, very much resembling those of 
P. Strobus, but with a thicker and stronger 
shell. 
A lofty and beautiful tree, well known 
throughout Upper India under the name of 
Kyle, Chilla, and Kuel. It was introduced 
about 1823, and there is no donbt of its proving 
a great acquisition to the British arborist, both 
as a timber tree, and as a most graceful object 
on the lawn and mountain side. It is perfectly 
hardy in Britain, and in any free soil grows 
with great rapidity. In the neighbourhood of 
Mussourie, whence the writer has had packages 
of seed, this pine is found in company with 
the Cedrus Deodara and JPicea Webbiana. 
The tree has a striking resemblance to P. 
Strobus, but the former has longer and richer 
foliage, and the young shoots are flatter and 
thicker. The soil it prefers is a deep sandy 
loam, in which it displays itself to great ad- 
vantage. For the sake of those who have 
friends in India, and who wish to import seeds 
of this tree, it is important to state that there 
is no necessity for having them sent by the 
overland mail ; for on account of the bony 
covering in which the kernels are enveloped, 
a six months' voyage does not at all impair 
them. Steeping the seeds in wai*m water for 
a few days previous to sowing, is an excellent 
plan. They grow extremely well sown in the 
open air, in sandy loam, and covered to the 
depth of half an inch. They require to be 
kept uniformly moist, and if shaded from the 
mid-day sun by a few dead branches, they will 
succeed all the better. The best time for 
sowing them is the end of April ; and if pro- 
perly treated, they will be fit to be potted in 
the last week of September following. If 
potted at this date, they will furnish them- 
selves with new roots before the winter sets 
in, and thus be the more able to withstand its 
severity. The country is already full of beau- 
tiful specimens of this tree. It has been 
planted in considerable numbers on the estate 
of Sir Edward North Buxton, in the parish of 
Runton, Norfolk, where it thrives luxuriantly. 
Mr. Locke, of Rozelle, gives it as his opinion 
that " the plant delights in free air and a good 
breeze." 
It is impossible to state what it will become 
in this country as an ornamental object. Its 
perfect hardiness and rapidity of growth give 
promise that it will at any rate form a large 
tree. There is only the impress of beauty 
upon it now in the usual outlines of youthful- 
ness. "We have no dark forest sides of this 
species ; few trees of it which tempests have 
vexed ; and none moulded into the picturesque 
forms of extreme age. Throughout Hindostan 
it is called Raesula, or King of the Firs ; and 
Dr. Royle states, " that travellers in the 
Himalayas frequently call it the "Weeping Fir, 
from its remarkable drooping branches." One- 
year seedling plants are sold at 2s. per dozen ; 
and those a foot in height at from 6s. to 9s. 
per dozen. (1847.) 
P. Strobus, Linnasus (Strobus, or Weymouth 
Pine). — Leaves in fives, of a fine light bluish 
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