CHAP. CXIII.

coni'fera:. pi'nus.

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form of the cones, enable the practised eye to distinguish it in amoment from that species. — S. E. Cook. Carlton, near Darlington,May, 1837.”

* I P. ( s.) p. 5 M. nana, the Knee Pine of the Styrian Alps, nevergrows above 3 ft. high. A plant has been in the Trinity CollegeBotanic Garden, Dublin, since 1817 ; and, in 20 years, it has notattained a greater height than an ordinary-sized man’s knee.

Other Varieties. P. (s.) pumilio and P. (s.) p. Mughus vary so muchaccording to the localities in which they are found, that, if it were desirableto increase the number of subvarieties, there might be a dwarf, a tall, and amedium form given to each. In the Horticultural Society’s Garden, there isa handsome, erect-growing, small tree of P. (s.) p. Mughus, under the nameof P. uncinata, and also a dwarf plant, under the same name; both producinghooked cones. At White Knights, where there are 20 or 30 plants of P.(s.) pumilio, they vary in size from a recumbent bush, 5 ft. or 6 ft. high, and20 ft. or 30 ft. in diameter, to trees of between 30 ft. and 40 ft. in height;some of them with trunks clear of branches to 3 ft. or 4 ft. from the ground.Some of these trees have been drawn up in this form in consequence ofbeing crowded among others.

Description, Sfc. The common character belonging to all the varieties ofP. (s.) pumilio is, that of being smaller in all their parts, and less glaucous inthe general appearance of their foliage, than P. sylvestris. The leaves arealso much more thickly set on the branches; and the sheathson the leaves of the current year are much longer and whiter,especially towards the extremities of the shoots. In thedwarf varieties, the cones are small; and those of P. (s.) p.

Mughus have often a deformed stunted appearance; but, insome of the tall varieties of P. (s.) pumilio, the cones areexactly like those of the Scotch pine, as are also the buds.

The rate of growth is slow in all the varieties, in the tall-est not exceeding 4 in. or 5 in., or at most 6 in., in the year.

All the varieties are natives of the mountains of most partsof Europe, more especially in France and Germany; andthey have been recognised by botanists from the time ofMathiolus. P. (s.) pumilio appears to have been first culti-vated in England in 1779, by John Blackburn, Esq., atOrford Hall, near Warrington, in Lancashire, where the ori-ginal plant still exists, forming a large recumbent bush, butin a shattered condition. All the varieties have a powerful terebmthinateodour; and produce abundantly, when the branches are broken, a fragrant andfluid resin, which is sold, in Hungary, Carniola, &c., as a balsam for curing ul-cers, contusions, and rheumatism. The krumholz oil, which is produced bydistillation from the burned branches, is of a golden colour, agreeable odour,and acrid oily flavour; and it is used for similar diseases, particularly inveterinary surgery. In Britain, P. (s.) pumilio and its varieties are curiousor ornamental bushes or trees, and, as such, are valuable objects in smallgardens, and in miniature pinetums. The vigour of the foliage, and the in-tensity of its colour, vary exceedingly, according to the soil and situation inwhich any of the varieties of this plant and P. (s.) p. Mughtis are placed.The different varieties come tolerably true from seed, by which means theyare generally propagated; but P. (s) p. Fischeri has hitherto been inarched,not having yet ripened cones, either on the Continent or in Britain.

Statistics. The largest plants of P. (s.) pumilio in the immediate neighbourhood of London areat Syon, and in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, where they are from 4ft. to 6ft. high. Thelargest in England are at White Knights, where there are a number of trees upwards of 30 ft. high ;and several bushes of from 20 ft. to 30 It. in diameter, and 10 ft. or 12 ft. high. At Dropmore,the bush of which Jig. 2063. is a portrait, to a scale of 8 ft. to 1 in., is above 12 ft. high, and covers aspace 25 ft. in diameter. At Hendon Rectory, there are several handsome conical plants in pots,from 3 ft to 5 ft. high. At Bollwyller, plants of P. (s.) pumilio are 1 franc 50 cents, and of P. (s.)p. Mughus 1 franc, each. Plants of P. uncinata, in the London nurseries, are 10 a 6d. each j but,whether they are identical with P. (s.) p. Milghus, or with P. s. 4 uncinkta (p. 2156.), we are uncer-tain, having only seen very small plants.

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