CHAP. CXIII.

CONIFER IE. vIBIE'TINyE.

2109

suring its height rather than its breadth, and the production of titnbcr by thepreservation of its permanent trunk, rather than of its temporary and com-paratively useless branches.

The flowers are disposed in catkins : they are unisexual, and those of themale are totally different from those of the female. In most species, bothmale and female catkins are on the same tree; but in Araucaria , as far asthat genus is known, they are supposed to be on different trees. The maleflowers consist of a number of stamens without any floral envelope, butsimply accompanied by scales; and are much more numerous than the females,as is generally the case in unisexual plants. The pollen from the anthersof most species, when ripe, drops on the lower branches in such abundanceas to change their colour from green to yellow ; and both in the Highlandsof Scotland, according to Lightfoot; and in the Vosges, in the north-eastof France, according to Loiseleur Deslongchamps, it has been carried to adistance by wind, and has fallen on the ground like a shower of sulphur, to thegreat terror of the superstitious. The female flowers consist of a pistil, orstigma, enclosed in a simple perianth, or calyx, and accompanied by an in-volucrum composed of one, two, or of several scales. There are in mostgenera two scales to each flower; an exterior one, which is large and thick,and forms the outer surface of the pine and fir cones; and an interior one,which springs from the base of the other, and is thin; and which protects twoflowers, that afterwards become two seeds.

The fruit of the ylbietinm are all cones, which vary somewhat in form,though they are in general, as the word implies, conical; and they differ insize, from that of yf'bies canadensis, which is about half an inch in length,to that of Pinus Lambertidna, which has been found 2 ft. long. The coneswhich are thickest in proportion to their length are those of P. Pfnca, Cedrus,and Araucaria ; that of the latter being almost spherical. The largest of allthe cones known, is that of P. macrocarpa, which is more than 1 ft. in length,and 6in. in diameter; and which weighs about 4lbs. In some species of.Larix, the axis of the cone is continued in the form of a shoot; and in Piceabracteata the scales are prolonged in the shape of leaves. In some, as in Cedrus,Pinus Pfnea, &c., the scales, or exterior calyxes, of the cones adhere closelytogether, and, as they ripen, become almost of a woody texture; in others, asin P. iStrobus, and in the whole of the species of Abies, the scales are looseand open, and of a leathery or soft texture, and may be very easily separated.The seed is readily extracted from the latter description of cones, but withdifficulty from the former. The cones in some species, as in P. sylvestris,arrive at maturity in the second year; but in others, as in P. Pinea andthe genus Cedrus, not till the third year. In some, they remain on the treeonly two years : but in others, as in P. Pae'da and Cedrus Libani, they re-main on three or four years ; and on P. pungens from ten to twenty years.

The largest seeds are those of the Pinus Pinea ; and the smallest thoseof some species of Abies. The seeds consist of albumen, composed of fari-naceous matter, impregnated with resin and oil; in which the embryo isembedded. This oil has an acrid taste; but, as it can be removed byroasting, the farinaceous matter which remains may then be eaten like thatof other seeds and roots. Hence all the seeds of the Abietinte may beconsidered not only as edible, but as highly nutritive. In some species, asthe P. Pinea of Europe, and the Araucaria brasiliana of South America,the terebinthinate matter in the seeds is so small, that they may be eatenwithout roasting; while on the other hand, in Arattcdria imbricata, and inCedrus Deodara, it is so great that the seeds are kilndried by the collectorsof them in the mountains, before being brought down into the plains for sale.

In germinating, the seed first swells and bursts at the upper or narrow end,whence the radicle proceeds and turns downwards into the soil; while, soonafter, the lower, or thick, part of the seed opens, and the leaves are developed,and rise above the surface of the ground. The seeds in most of the speciesare polycotyledonous; but in CunninghannVz there are only two cotyledons,