CHAP. CXIII.

coni'fep®. PI'NUS.

2205

considered as being one of ornament; and, as such, it deserves to be plantedextensively for its very regular and handsome form, and the intensely darkgreen of its abundant foliage. It also deserves planting on a large scale as auseful tree, on account of the great rapidity of its growth. In the lowdistricts of Britain, it might probably be a good substitute for P. sylvestris,Statistics. In the Environs of London. In the Horticultural Society’s Garden, 12 years planted, itis 25 ft. high ; at Muswell Hill, 8 years planted, it is 16 ft. high ; in the Hackney arboretum, from25 ft. to 30 ft. high; at Syon, 40 ft high; at Kew, the tree figured in our last Volume, which isbetween 80 ft. and 90 ft. high_North of London. In Bedfordshire, at Woburn Abbey, 7 years

i tlanted, it is 10 ft. high. In Berkshire, at White Knights, 37 years planted, it is 60 ft. high ; at.Iropmore,20 ft. high. In Essex, at Audley End, 7 years planted, it is 9ft. 6 in. high. In Hert-fordshire, at Cheshunt, 4 years planted, it is 8 ft. high. In Staffordshire, at Trentham, 6 yearsplanted, it is 16 ft. high. In Suffolk, at Ampton Hall, 12 years old, it is 10 ft. high.

In Foreign Countries. In France, in the Jardin des Plantes, 55 years planted, it is 80 ft. high, thediameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6in., and of the head 40 ft.; at Fromont, in the garden of M. le Che-valier Soulange-Bodin, it is 42 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk, at 6 ft. from the ground, 1ft.

4 in.; in Brittany, at Barres, 12 years planted, it is 24 ft. high; at Nantes, in the nursery of M.Nerrieres, 15 years planted, it is 25 ft. high ; in the Botanic Garden at Metz, 18 years grafted, it is24 ft. high ; at M. Brunei’s, at Avranches, 20 years planted, it is 40 ft. high; in the Park at Cler-vaux, 42 years planted, it is 78 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1ft. 6 in., and of the head 32 ft.In Hanover, at Harbccke, 10 years planted, it is 16 ft. high.

Commei'clal Statistics. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 1.9. 6d. each;and at Bollwyller, 1 franc; but, if there were a demand for them, they woulddoubtless be procured at 30«. or 40«. per thousand.

t 8. P. (L.) austri' aca Miss. The Austrian, or black, Pine.

Identification. Hdss Anleit,p. 6.; Lawson’s Manual, p. 338.

St/nom/mes. P. nigricans Bort. ; P. nigrescens Hart. ; schwartz Fohre, Ger.

Engravings. Fig. 2085., showing the bud of a plant of two years’ growth in the HorticulturalSociety’s Garden.

Spec. Char., $c. Sheath with from .3 to 5 rings, at first of a clear ash grey,then becoming reddish, afterwards darker, and at last black. Leavesfrom 2 in. to 5 in. long; seldom, and but little, twisted ; when young,erect; when older, standing out, and curved towards the twig; outersurface half round, dark green, glossy, and with a sharply serratedmargin; inner surface nearly even, but slightly dotted along theridge ; points prickly, of a yellowish brown or fawn colour. Budslarge, the leader often from 1 in. to 1J in. long, ovate, with a longpoint. Scales dark brown, thinner at the margin and point, and fur-nished with whitish fringe ; the lower ones curving back from the bud;the inner ones collapsed, and incrusted with white resin. Flowersproduced about the end of May. Male catkins on short pedun-cles, oblong, cylindrical, round, or bluntly pointed, becoming conical 2005after arriving at maturity, placed many together in verticillate bundles roundthe bottom of the young shoots. The female catkins two or three, or occa-sionally more, together, with rather long peduncles from the extremity of theyoung branches; round-oblong, erect, and dark red; becoming, in July, aboutAin. long, and Ain. broad; elliptical, and assuming a reddish brown colour.The cone does not arrive at maturity till October in its second year; it isconical, rounded at the base, 2 in. or 3 in. long, pointing horizontally, ornearly so; of a light yellow brown, polished, and shining. Seeds very closelyresembling those of P. Laricio; and the cotyledons 6 or 8, as in that species.Trunk cylindrical. Bark very thick, of a blackish ash-green, marked withreddish brown spots. Scales deeply and longitudinally cleft; the fissures of auniform reddish brick-colour, lighter than that of Picea pectinata. Thebranches are produced in regular whorls, at first inclined upwards towardsthe trunk, then spreading horizontally, and finally drooping at the extremity.In full-grown trees, the top becomes flat and spreading to a great extent.The bark of the shoots of the current year is of a greenish yellow, regu-larly and deeply raised by the insertions of the leaves, furrowed, andshining. (Udss’s Gemeinfassliche Anleitung, &c., p. 8.; and Lawson’s Manual,p. 339.)

Geography and History. P. austriaca grows naturally in Austria, in theBreima Forest (Wienerwald), the Banate, upon the Demoglet, near Me-hadia ; and, in the neighbourhood of the Snowy Mountains, it grows at higheraltitudes than Picea pectinata. It prefers a deep, dry, calcareous sand;