CHAP cxnr.

CONI'FF. Fl/E.

a it auca'ria.

2433

cleft in different directions, and equally resinous with the inner bark. Inyoung trees, the bark of the trunk is studded with leaves from the base of thetree upwards, which remain attached for 12 or 15 years. The branches areproduced in whorls of 6, 7, and sometimes 8, in a whorl, the greater numberbeing nearest the ground ; and the branches diminish in length as they ascendhigher up the tree, till at the top they terminate in a kind of pyramidal head.They are horizontal, indexed, and ascending at the extremities. These largehorizontal arms, clothed with closely imbricated leaves, resemble, in youngtrees, snakes partly coiled round the trunk, and stretching forth their longslender bodies in quest of prey. The leaves are sessile, somewhat thickenedat the base, ovate-lanceolate, stiffj straight, somewhat keel-shaped below, andstrongly mucronate at the apex ; verticillate, with 7 or 8 in a whorl; imbricate,and closely encircling the branches ; concave, rigid, glabrous, shining, markedwith longitudinal lines, dotted on both sides; leathery, with a cartilaginous

7s 2