COXIFER.E. THE PINUS, OR PINE TREE. 
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not form dense forests, but are scattered 
throughout sandy valleys and plains, which to 
all appearance are incapable of supporting 
vegetation. Douglas states that the resin 
Avhich exudes from this tree when partly 
burned loses its usual flavour and acquires a 
sweet taste, and that it is used in that state 
by the natives as a substitute for sugar. The 
seeds are eaten by the natives, both in a raw 
and roasted state ; and in some parts the resi- 
dent Spaniards have them served up as a 
dessert. Those who have eyes only for the 
fantastic and picturesque, would consider this 
tree deficient in beauty. It is " straight as 
righteousness," and therefore would be rejected 
for the want of some wavy outline to give a 
fancied effect to the stem. If extreme height 
is entitled to any respect, this plant commands 
consideration ; and many, at least, would see 
in it something of the majesty of Nature, and 
the power of the Great Creator. There are 
fine specimens at Dropmore, Cliiswick, Chats- 
worth, Hackney Nursery, and in the Royal 
Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. 
Pinus Ayacahuite, Ehrenberg (Ayacahuite 
Pine). — Leaves five together, fine, three inches 
long, slender, sharp-pointed, and of a beautiful 
glaucous colour, resembling those of the Wey- 
mouth Pine. Cones about thirteen inches 
long, slender, with broad obtuse scales about 
two inches long, standing open, with the points 
more or less bent downwards. 
A tall tree, resembling the Weymouth Pine, 
but reaching to a greater height and producing 
resin more plentifully. It is found on the 
slopes of the mountains in Guatemala, and in 
valleys, where it becomes a tall straight tree. 
There is little probability of its proving hardy 
enough for the climate of Britain. 
Pinus Cembra, Linnaeus (Cembran Pine). 
— Leaves five together, short, rigid, glaucous 
green, with deciduous sheaths. Cones oblong, 
the length of the leaves, with thin scales 
which,when young, are pubescent; seeds larger 
than that of any other Pine except P. Pinea, 
wingless, and containing an eatable kernel, 
which is said to yield excellent oil. 
A hardy ornamental tree, found on the 
sides of mountains in Siberia, Tartary, Italy, 
and Switzerland, and introduced into this 
country in 1746, by Archibald, Duke of 
Argyle. Some of the finest trees were at Mill 
Hill ; but as Smith observes, " after the deplo- 
rable havoc made there by ignorant or negli- 
gent possessors, it is impossible to say whether 
these trees still exist." When young, it grows 
slowly; but in free loamy soil it proceeds, after 
the first ten years, at a more rapid rate. It 
is easily known by the regular spiral form 
which it assumes. The tree in this country 
is elegant in appearance ; and throughout the 
elevated tracts of country which it affects in 
Siberia and Switzerland, it is grand and pictu- 
resque. It is quite hardy in England; but on 
account of its growing but indifferently unless 
in deeply-trenched sandy loams, it will never 
become common on account of its properties 
as a timber tree. The idea of its being well 
adapted to clothe the tops of many hitherto 
almost barren mountains in Scotland, not only 
with fresh and luxuriant vegetation, but with 
valuable timber, as suggested by Mr. Lawson, 
in his Manual, is quite chimerical. Even 
under the most favourable circumstances, it is 
accounted rather a triumph to grow it of a size 
fit to be used in carpentry, and joists and beams 
of it are only to be had from its native habitats. 
Various plans are resorted to in order to 
insure a full crop of plants, a thing which is 
seldom accomplished. Some sow the seeds in 
the autumn in which they are received, when 
a few of them appear in the spring, and the 
remainder in May following. A better way 
is to steep the seeds in warm water for a fort- 
night before sowing, and then to sow them in 
pans placed in heat. The soil which they 
seem to prefer is sandy loam, without any 
mixture of peat. 
Varieties. — P. C sibirica (Siberian Stone 
Pine or Siberian Cedar), has the cones larger 
and longer than in the species ; the leaves 
shorter, and the plant still more stunted-like. 
The tree has an open head with tufted 
branches, and in its native country reaches a 
great height-*-sometimes 120 feet. Of this 
variety Mr. Locke of Rozelle says, " This with 
us is the most thriving of all the Cembra?, and 
I might also say the most desirable. No pine 
I know possesses more attractions, not only 
from the remarkable symmetry of all its pro- 
portions, but also from the beauty of its fine 
green leaves." 
P. C. helvetica (Swiss, Cembran, or 
Stone Pine), is a vigorous growing variety, 
with short rounded cones, and longer leaves 
than the foregoing,. Common in British arbo- 
retums, and certainly best entitled to be culti- 
vated. In some parts of Switzerland it grows 
about 7000 feet above the sea, and, as might 
be expected, it has proved itself quite hardy 
in the climate of Scotland. Its wood is finer 
and more fragrant than that of the species: it 
retains its smell for many years, and is said to 
be so offensive to moths, bugs, &c, that they 
are not to be found in rooms where it is. Re- 
ferring to this variety, Mr. Locke of Rozelle 
says, "the annual growths for several years 
are about nine inches." 
P. C. pygmcea.—A very dwarf, shrub-like 
plant, more curious than useful, and found only 
in few collections. Some idea may be formed 
of its prostrate habit from the fact that at 
Hopetoun House, near Edinburgh, a plant 100 
years old is only six feet high. 
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