2104.
ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.
FART III.
group, under the name of /'inns, the genera /'inns, A'bics, and Larix ofTournefort; and adopted the genera Thuja, Juniperus, Cupressus, and Taxusas characterised by Linnmus. Solander, in 1786, in a Dissertation publishedat Berlin by G. Forster, indicated the Dacrydium cupressinum as a new genusbelonging to Coniferas, but did not give its character. Lambert, the vice-president of the Linnman Society, published, in 1803, the first volume of hismagnificent work, A Description of the Genus Pinus, the second volume ofwhich was published in 1832, and the third in 1837. L’Hdritier founded thegenus Podocarpus in 1806, and Smith that of Salisbury in 1796. Persoonadded the genus Altingia to Conifer®, having mistaken a species of Liquid-ambar, the aboriginal name of which is Altingia, for one of the Conifer®.R. A. Salisbury published, in 1807, in the Linntenn Transactions, vol. viii.,some curious observations on the stigmas of the Conifer®, and endeavouredto establish four new genera; viz., Belis (Cunninghams), A'gathis (Dam-mam'), Eutassa, and Colymbea (Araucaria). Ventenat, in 1808, gave anew character to the Thiija articulata of Desfontaines, which he namedCallitris. M. Targioni Tazzetti of Florence published, in the Annals of theMuseum of that city, Observations on the Coniferae, and particularly on thegenera Thuja and Cupressus, which he unites in one genus. MM. Mirbel andSchubert have published, in the Annales du Museum de Paris, tom. xv., and inthe Bulletin des Sciences de la Societe Philomatique, tom. iii., and in variousother works, many observations on the Conifer®. Both these botanists haveproposed a new classification of the genera which compose the order, arrangingthem into two groups: the one containing the genera in which the flowersare turned up, and the other all those in which they are turned down. M.Mirbel, in 1812, separated the Cupressus disticha from the other species ofthat genus, and described it under the name of Schubertin; a name which hasnot been generally adopted, because it was found that M. Richard, senior, hadalready described it under the name of Taxodiuin in the Annales du Musee,tom. xvi. M. Tristan, in the same volume of the Annales, endeavours toshow that A'bics and Larix ought to be united, as Linnseus and G®rtnerhad previously done. In this volume appeared also a new classification ofthe genera composing the Conifer®, by M. Richard, senior; in which heendeavoured to establish the three groups or sections of Taxine®, Cupressin®,and Abielin®; and this arrangement is adopted in the same author’s justlycelebrated work, Mem. sur les Conferes, published after his death by his son,M. Achille Richard, in 1826. It is the arrangement of this author, as modi-fied by Dr. Lindley in the edition of his Introduction to the Natural Systempublished in 1836, that we have followed in this work; and the charactersof the genera have been either drawn up or amended for us by ProfessorDon ; who has also kindly looked over the proof sheets. By Dr. Lindley’sarrangement, Richard’s section Taxine® is removed from the Conifer®,and made a separate order, under the name of Taxace®, as given in p. 2065.;and, under Richard’s two sections Abietin® and Cupressin®, the true Co-nifer® are arranged as follows: —
Sect. I. Abie'tin/f; Bichard.
Sect. Char. All the genera included in the group are evergreen, exceptLarix. Branches in whorls; except, perhaps, in Dammam. Budsscaly. Catkins of each sex of numerous flowers. Tip of the ovulepointing towards the axis of the catkin, except in Cunningham*». Leaves,scattered, or in groups.
* Sexes monoecious.
Pi'nus L., in part. Male. Catkins grouped. Pollen contained in 2 cells,formed in the scale, that opens lengthwise. — Female. Ovules 2. Strobileovately conical in most species. Carpels, or outer scales, thickened at thetip, exceeding the bracteas or thin outer scales in length, and concealingthem: persistent. — Leaves in groups of 2, 3, or 5; each group arisingout of a scaly sheath.