AKBOItETUM ANI) FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

to a scale of 8 ft. to 1 in.; andwhich was, in 1837, 14ft. high.

This variety is described, in theNouv. Du Hamel, as having theleaves rigid, and of a deep green;the cone conical, often two to-gether, shorter than the leaves,with their scales ending in apyramidal quadrangular point,which is turned back. The cat-kins of the male flowers are al-most sessile, and the anthershave a round membranaceouscrest. It forms a bush in somecases, and a tree in others, ac-cording to the soil and situationin which it springs up or is planted. The cones readily distinguishit from P. (s.) pumilio. It is found on the Carniolan Mountains, thePyrenees, on Mount Ventoux, and in other places. M. Villarsobserves that, when it grows on the summits of mountains, it is amere bush ; but that, as it descends to the plains, it becomesa tree.

The P. s. uncinata of Captain S. E. Cook ( Sketches , ii. p. 230.), webelieve, judging from the young plants in the Horticultural Society’sGarden, and from cones sent to Captain Cook from M. P. Boileau,through M. Vilmorin, to be either identical with, or a subvariety of,P. (s.) Mitghus. The following note has been sent to us by CaptainCook:—“ P. uncinata is found on the upper zone, or line, of theforest vegetation of the Pyrenees, on both sides the chain. At theLac de Gaube, and in a few other localities where the forestshave been allowed to attain their natural state, it is mixed, at first,with Picea pectinata and Pinus sylvestris; but, as you ascend,it gradually leaves these species below, and occupies exclu-sively the Siberian region of the high or central Pyrenees. Otherlocalities in which it is believed to occur are, on some elevateddetached masses of mountain between the Pyrenees and the Alpsof Mount Cenis, where, no doubt, it lies over the great forestsof the Maurienne, which are of P. sylvestris. This pine is ex-tremely valuable from its hardiness, as well as for the resinousquality and great durability of its timber. In the Spanish pro-vinces, it is used for torches; and its timber is considered to besuperior in quality to that of the P. sylvestris; it is also usedfor making charcoal. As an ornamental tree, it will be highlydesirable, from the intensely dark green of its foliage, as well asthe close and solid mass it forms, and the habit of the tree, whereleft at liberty to throw out massy arms, trailing on the ground, aquality so unusual in its class. There are now very scanty remainsof this noble tree in the French Pyrenees, where they have beenalmost wholly eradicated by the barbarous improvidence of thepeople: there are a few left at the Lac de Gaube, at Gavarme, atthe Lac d’Oo, and on the Arriege; but in Aragon and Cataloniathere are forests still remaining of vast extent. They extend fromthe region of Mont Perdu and the Maledetta, to the Valley ofAndorre on the Scgre; the most considerable forests being thoseopposite to the Valley of Arreau, within the Spanish territory, thoseto the north-east of Benarque, and those of the republic of Andorre.It must be grouped with P. sylvestris, to which it is nearly re-lated; but the port, colour, and strength of the leaves, and the