( 69 ) 
STONE PINE. 
Pinus PîNEA. P. foliis geminis ; strobilis ovatis, obtusis , subinermibus ; foliis 
longioribus ; nucibus duris. 
The Isles of the Mediterranean Sea, the shores of European Turkey, 
and the south of Europe in general, produce this species of Pine. It grows 
with difficulty in more northern climates, and requires to be protected from 
the cold while young ; in this manner have been reared the stocks that 
exist in the botanical garden of Paris, which support a winter as rigorous 
as that of Richmond in Virginia. 
The Stone Pine attains the height of 55 or 60 feet, with a diameter of 
15 or 20 inches, and is easily distinguished by its wide and depressed s um - 
mit. The leaves are about 5 inches in length, united in pairs, and of a 
bright green. The cones are 5 inches long, 4 inches broad, and very 
obtuse. On the inner side of each scale, at the base, are two pits contain- 
ing a hard seed of a deep blue color, surmounted by a short wing. The 
seeds enclose a white kernel, of an agreeable taste when fresh, which is 
served upon the table ; but there is a Pine known in Portugal by the name 
of Pinhao molar, and in Naples by that of Piniolo molese, of which the 
kernel is tender and in every respect preferable. 
The Stone Pine is a conquest of civilised man from savage nature, and 
a long course of uninterrupted cultivation has been necessary to perfect its 
fruit. To assign the period at which this process was begun is perhaps 
impossible ; it must, however, be remote, for these cones are found, as an 
architectural ornament in the Greek and Roman antiquities. 
Though this tree can be of little value to the United States, it deserved 
to be mentioned, as it grows in the poorest soils, has a picturesque appear- 
ance, and is associated with recollections that are cherished by every lover 
of the arts and sciences. 
PLATE CXXXV. 
A branch with a cone of the natural size. Fig. 1 , A leaf. Fig. 2, A seed. 
