CHAP, ex HI.

CONI'PEII/Ti. iVt’EA.

2345

white beneath, emarginate at the apex.

Catkins lateral, sessile ; having at the basemany, short, closely imbricated scales, roundand membranaceous in the male, anti broadovate in the female. Male catkins numerous,cylindrical, slender, simple, springing fromthe lower side of the extremities of thebranches: stamens monadelphous : anthersshort, obctineate, on short stalks, imbricatedbackwards, having at the apex a convexsomewhat kidney-shaped crest; conical and2-horned above; horns very short, obtuse,divaricate. Female catkins solitary, oblong,cylindrical, erect; 1 in. long, dark purple :scales short, roundish, wedge-shaped, membranaceous on the margin, re-pando-denticulate, recurved at the apex, mucronate. Cones solitary, erect,obtuse, cylindrical; 4 in. to 6 in. long, and 14 in. to 2 in. in diameter, pro-ceeding from the upper side of the extremities of the branches; of an intensepurple; full of resin, which exudes in numerous transparent pendulous glo-bules, yielding by expression a purple pigment. Scales short, broad-wedge-shaped, much dilated at the apex; leathery, roundish, quite entire, indexed,densely imbricated, with a very short, mutic, persistent scale (bractea) at thebase. Seeds oval-oblong, angular, obvolute in a thick hard coriaceous testa;taste acrid, and odour very resinous: wing slender, membranaceous, broad,quite entire, obovate-axe-shaped. (Lamb.) It is a native of the alps ofGossainthan in Nepal, and of the Himalayas, where it was discovered byCaptain W. S. Webb, “ a distinguished traveller, and a zealous investigatorof natural history, deservedly known for his admirable survey of the Himalayanalps.” Captain Webb gave the following account of the tree to Dr. Wallich :— “ This purple-coned pine attains a height of 80 ft. or 90 ft., with a diameterof the stem near the ground of from 3 ft. to 4 ft. The cone is produced on theextremity of the shoots. The leaves are about 1 in. long, of a beautiful lightgreen, having a white stripe in the centre. The wood even equals, in thetexture of its grain and in odour, the Bermudas cedar. The fruit is saidto yield, at full growth, a purple pigment by expression. The silvery hueof the bark, the beautiful contrast of the leaves with the rich purple ofthe cone, glittering with globules of transparent resin, produce in combina-tion one of the most striking objects which can weil be imagined, andentitle the tree to precedence for ornamental purposes.” Seeds were repeatedlysent to England, by Dr. Wallich, to Mr. Lambert and others; but none appearto have vegetated till about 1822; when some plants were raised in theFulham Nursery. The largest of these, which is now at Drop-more, and of which oury%.2253. is a portrait, to scale of 1 in. to8 ft., was, in 1837, after being 10 years planted, 8 ft. high ; and hada cone which on the 14th of July was 3-| in. long, and on the1st of October, was about 5 in. long. As the tree has producedno male catkins, no perfect seeds can be expected from thiscone; but its intensely dark, and yet brilliant purple hue, amplyjustifies the description of Captain Webb. The plant, in theclimate of England, appears rather more tender than the silverfir; being liable, from its vegetating very early in spring, to have 2263its leading shoots pinched by the frost. After a series of years, however, andpropagation from seeds ripened in this country, it will, in all probability,accommodate itself in a considerable degree to the peculiarities of ourclimate. When once the tree begins to bear cones, they may be fecundatedwith the male blossoms of the common silver fir, and thus a hybrid pro-duced somewhat hardier than the female parent. As a timber tree, it is neverlikely to be of much value in this country; though, in India, its wood issaid to equal in the texture of its grain, and in its odour, the Bermudas cedar;