2214 ;

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

Synonymes. P. sylvestris y Lin. Syst. Reich., 4. p. 172.; P. maritima Sltera Du Ham. Arb., No. 4.t. 29., Du Roi Harbk., ed. Pott, 2. p. 59. j P. maritima N. Du Ham , 5. p. 240.; P. sjrtica ThoreProm, sur les Cotes de Gascogne, p. 161.; Pin de Bordeaux, Pin des Landes.

Engravings. Du Ham. Arb., No. 4. t. 29. j Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 1.1. 9.; N. Du Ham., 5. t.72. and72. bis f. 1.; our Jig. 2105., to our usual scale; Jigs. 2100. and 2101., of the natural size, from Drop-more and Pain ’s Hill specimens; and the plates of this tree in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., §c. Leaves in pairs, rigid, very long. Cones conical, placed inwhorls of 3, 4 -, or even as many as 8, together ; rarely solitary, much shorterthan the leaves; the backs of the scales forming each a rhomboidal pyramid,with two lateral angles, from which proceed ribs, terminating at the sum-mit of the pyramid in a smaller pyramid, which has a hard point, more or lesssharp, and of a grey colour. Crest of the anthers rounded.

(N. Du Ham., and obs.) Bud (Jig. 2100.) from fin. to £ in.long; and from |in. to Jin. broad ; straight-sided, cylindrical,pointed, imbricated, with the scales turned back; white andwoolly, but never resinous; surrounding buds few and small.

Leaves (see Jig. 2101.) from 6 in. or 8 in. to 1 ft. in length,slightly soirrated on the margins; sheaths from J in. to £ in. inlength; imbricated, scarcely rigid; pale green or whitish atfirst, and becoming at last black. Cones from 4 in. to 6 in. inlength, and from If in. to 2J in. wide at the broadest part;light brown, and shining; scales from 1 in. to l£in. in length,and from Jin. to £ in. in breadth at the widest part; ter-minating in a regular pyramid; rhomboidal at the base. The 2100summit consisting of a smaller rhomboidal pyramid, of an ash-grey colour,very hard, and with a small sharp point, more particularly in the upper partof the cone. Seeds oblong, and measuring, without the wing, upwards offin. in length, and nearly fin. in breadth ; with the wing above ljin. inlength ; wing nearly J in. in breadth. Cotyledons 7 or 8. The tree flowers,near London, in the beginning of June; in the north and west of France , inMay; and on the Landes of Bordeaux , in April.

Varieties. The extensive geographical range of this tree has given rise tomany varieties, though we have seen but very few that can be consideredtruly distinct. In the Nouveau I)u Hamel, only one is mentioned; butit is added, that, in the Landes of Bordeaux , in the sandy downs alongthe sea coast, where the trees send down their taproots to a great depth,some are to be found which produce clusters of cones from 30 or 40 to 80,or even 100, in a cluster. This is stated by Loiseleur Deslongchamps, onthe authority of Dr. Thore of Dax, who adds that this luxuriance of vege-tation is not constant; for the same trees which have borne so many conesin one year, are found, in other years, with very few, or none; it cannot,therefore, be considered as a variety. The pinaster appears also to be indi-genous to, or to have been introduced into, several ultra-European countries;and plants raised from seeds received from these countries have had namesgiven to them in British gardens, though hardly, as we think, meriting thatdistinction. We shall, however, give all the varieties of which we haveseen plants, and leave the reader to judge for himself.

i P. P. 2 escarenus, P. escarena Risso. — The leaves are of a paler greenthan those of the species, but they are equally long and strong. Thecones are shorter, and more ovate. This is the most distinct andhandsome variety of pinaster that we have seen : it was first intro-duced into Britain by the Earl of Aberdeen, in 1825; the treehaving been pointed out to His Lordship in that year, by M. Risso,at Rice, as growing, though rather sparingly, in the mountains,about 12 or 15 miles from that city. From seeds brought to Eng-land by Lord Aberdeen, plants were raised ; and one presented byhim to Lord Grenville bore cones in 1836, and is now (1837)17 ft. high ; one presented to the London Horticultural Society,after being 8 years planted, is now 11 ft. high, but has not yetborne cones.

mam