CHAP. CX1IJ.

CONpFER/E. ABIF'tINA;.

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to the north and middle of Europe, to Siberia, and to the temperate parts ofNorth America. Some of the South American species, such as the Araucaria,differ considerably in general aspect from those of the northern hemisphere ;and still more so do those of Australia and Polynesia, such as Ddmmara andCunningham/®. Very few species of Abietinae are natives of warm climates ;for, though a few, such as the Pinus occidentalis of St. Domingo, and thePinus longifolia of the East Indies, are found within the tropics, yet they aregenerally in localities rendered temperate either by their elevation or theirproximity to the sea. In Nepal, according to Royle, the Abietinae are usuallyassociated with the oaks, and “ though but small shrubs are found in thevicinity of the highest peaks, no where are more splendid pines to be seen thanat 11,000 ft. or 11,500 ft. of elevation. The species most common are, PiceaWebb/®'»®, Cedrus Deoddra, Pinus excelsa, and A'bies Morinda.” (RoyleIllust., p. 23.) According to Link, the highest limit of the pine, as scatteredtrees, on the Himalayas, is 12,300 ft., but the pine woods do not extend beyondfrom 11,000 ft. to 11,800 feet.; though, “ at a much higher elevation, poplars12 ft. in circumference have been observed.” (As. Jour., May, 1835, p. 629., asquoted in Jameson’s Journal, July, 1837, p. 38.) The Abietinae are almost allsocial trees, and they are generally found covering extensive tracts of country,while, from their being evergreen, they do this to the exclusion of almost allother trees and shrubs; a pine forest consisting more exclusively of pines,than an oak forest does of oaks, or a forest consisting principally of any otherkind of deciduous tree does of that from which it takes its name. Thenearest to the Abietinae in exclusiveness is the beech. (See p. 1956.) TheAbietinae, with very few exceptions, are found in thin soils, on rock, or on acold but dry subsoil; and but a few species, such as the A' bies excelsa andA. canadensis, delight in situations where the surface of the ground is saturatedwith water during a great part of the year. The most common species inEurope, and also the most useful, is P. sylvestris; and the most common inNorth America is P. Ntrobus, which produces the white deal of commerce ;and these species are found covering immense tracts of arid sand, in both hemi-spheres where scarcely anything else will grow. The species found in a wildstate, in good soil in the south of Europe, are chiefly the Picea pectinata, andsome of the varieties of the Pinus Larido.

Veryfew species ofAbietinae have been found in a fossil state. Nevertheless,some remains of leaves, aments, and seeds of a species of Pinus, which Bron-gniart has named P. Pseudo-Strobus, have been found in some tertiary de-posits at Armissau, near the Narbonne, in France, where also have been foundthe cones of eight other different species of Pinus, none of which now exist:the names given to these by Brongniart will be found in his Histoire des Vege-taux Fossiles, and in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, tom. lviii. p. 3.In the same tertiary deposits in England, and also in Germany, some of thesecones, or some cones nearly resembling them, have also been found in a fossilstate.

The distribution of the species and principal varieties of the Abietinae is asfollows: —

In Europe, 14 kinds: viz. Pinus sylvestris, pumilio, Mughus, Laricio,Pallasin'na, Pinea, maritima, brutia, halepensis, Pinaster, Cembra; A'biesexcelsa; Picea pectinata ; Larix europae'a.

In Europe and Asia, 5 kinds: viz. Pinus halepensis, Pinaster, Cembra;A'bies excelsa ; Larix europae'a.

In Asia, 19 kinds : viz. Pinus Masson/a'na, longifolia, sinensis, excelsa,Gerardidna, halepensis, Pinkster, Cembra ; A'bies dumosa, orientalis, Smith-idna (Morinda), excelsa; Picea Webb/area, Pvndrow ; Larix europae'a; CedrusLibani, Deoddra; Cunningham/® sinensis; Ddmmara orientalis.

In Africa, 2 kinds : viz. P. canadensis, Pinea.

In Europe and Africa, l kind : viz. Pinus Pinea.

Iti North America, 40 kinds: viz. In the United States and Canada, 18kinds : Pinus Banks/a'aa, inops, resinosa, variabilis, Pae'da, rigida, pungens,

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