2160

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

when they burst, is sometimes dispersed in such immense quantities as to fillthe air, and give rise, as we have already observed (p. 2109.), to the idea of ashower of sulphur. The female flowers, or embryo cones, appear on thesummits of the shoots of the current year, generally 2 on the point of a shoot,but sometimes 4, 5, or 6. The colour of these embryo cones is generallypurple and green; but they are sometimes yellowish and sometimes red.After impregnation, the young fruit becomes lateral, stalked, and reflexed;green, and of a more ovate figure. The first year, it ceases to grow about themiddle of July, when it has attained the size of a good bean; and in thesecond year it begins to grow in the month of April, attains its full size bythe end of June, and ripens into an ovate, pointed, hard, tessellated, but un-armed, woody cone, about the middle of October. If left on the tree, it isnot till the following March or April that the scales open, and allow the seedsto drop out. It thus requires 18 months to mature the cones; and in a stateof nature it is two years before the seeds are in a condition to germinate.After the seeds have dropped out, the cones generally remain on a year, orat least till the following winter; so that full-grown trees generally exhibitcones in three or four different states ; viz. young cones in their first stage;cones of full size, but green; cones brown and opening; and cones with theirscales fully expanded, after the seeds have dropped. The cone, which isstalked, and when mature begins to open at the narrow extremity, as shown infig. 2048., is, while closed, perfectly conical, rounded atthe base, from 1) in. to 2 in. in length, and about aninch across in the broadest part; as it ripens, the co-lour changes from green to a reddish brown. Thescales are oblong, swelled on the back part of theirupper extremity into a sort of pyramid, which appearspressed down upon itself, and is truncate at the sum-mit. The form of this swelled part of the scales isvery variable. Sometimes it does not project at all,and the surface of the cone is quite smooth; and,in general, it projects much less on the side of thecones which is next the branches, than on that whichis exposed to the air. Sometimes the pyramid inwhich the scale terminates is raised so as to forma protuberance of more than two lines in height.

Sometimes the summit of the pyramid is sunk ; andsometimes it is pointed, and turned to one side;while at others, as in P. (s.) p. Mughus, it isturned downwards towards the base of the cone, and terminates in aprickle. This variation in the form of the scales of the cone of P. sylvestnshas given rise to different varieties; though hooked cones and smooth cont' 5may frequently be found on trees having very different habits, such as ”•(s.) p. Mughus and P. s. uncinata. At the base of each scale, on theinner side, close to the axis of the cone, are lodged 2 oval winged seeds, some-what flattened. Each seed is a little monospermous nut, to which, as in allthe other /Ibietinm, the wing is not attached, otherwise than by enclosing 11with its membranaceous texture. Hence, the wings of the-seeds of this pi ne >like those of every other species of Albietinse, may be separated from themwithout doing them the slightest injury. Sometimes the cones are sterile; b utin this case the winged membrane is as fully developed as if it were fertile, whi*®clearly proves that it does not form a part of the seed. In germination, thefirst appearance of the seed exhibits 5 or 6 linear leaves escaping from their en-velope, as shown in fig. 2015. a; and in a few days afterwards, when theenvelope has dropped, they assume the appearance of b. It is remarkablythat this species, which has the leaves of trees of 3 ft. or 4 ft. in heigh*glaucous when young, has the seminal leaves, and the leaves of young pi 8 ””in the first or second year, and sometimes even for 3 or 4 years, not glaucous^whereas in P. Pinaster, P. Pinea, and some others, the leaves of which, 111