OUR NATIVE CONIFERS. 
8i 
The Virginian Juniper (^Juniper us virginiana), or “ Red Cedar/ 
as it is called on the American continent, is a much larger plant, 
which is frequently planted in our parks and gardens. It varies 
in habit, and may be low and spreading, bush-like, or tall and 
tapering, thirty to forty feet high. Its leaves are in threes, like 
those of our native species, but the three are united by their bases. 
It is with the red heart-wood of this tree that our “ cedar ” pencils 
are covered, large quantities of the timber of y. virginiana^ 
and formerly of y. berimidiana^ being imported for the purpose. 
The Virginian Juniper has been with us for many years. It is 
mentioned by Evelyn in his “ Sylva ” (1664), and is believed to 
have been introduced by him from North America. 
The Scots Pine {Pinus sylvestris), commonly but incorrectly 
styled Scotch Fir, is the typical Pine-tree of Northern Europe, 
where (especially in Russia and Northern Germany) it consti- 
tutes huge forests. It is even said to cover far wider tracts of 
country than any other forest tree. Although there is evidence 
that in ancient days it was pretty widely distributed over Britain, 
to-day all those Pine-woods of Southern England are the results 
of planting, and it is only in a few places between Yorkshire and 
Sutherland, and in Ireland, that it can be regarded as truly wild 
and indigenous. Mr. John Nisbet points out that the term 
“ pine-forest ” is a bit of tautology, for the old German word forst 
was derived from for aha — now represented by fohre, a fire or 
pine — so that “ pine-forest ” is equivalent to “ pine-pine.” How- 
ever, the etymologists will probably allow us to speak of Pine- 
woods, and we will try to remember that when we use the word 
forest it must always indicate an assemblage of Pine-trees. 
In favourable soil, at a moderate elevation, the Scots Pine is a 
fine tree a hundred feet high, with a rough-barked trunk, whose 
girth is twelve feet. Under such conditions it develops a strong 
tap-root, which goes deep ; but where the soil is shallow or 
otherwise unfavourable the tap-root is not developed. At great 
elevations the upward growth is checked early, and it becomes 
