2218

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

i P. P. 11. Afassoraanus, P. Massom'dna Lamb., 2ed., 1. t. 8., to be noticedhereafter, Professor Don considers ns only P. Pinaster, which wethink very probable.

The only varieties of pinaster which we think worth cultivating areP. P. escarenus ; and P. P. Lemonianwi, and, for those who like variegatedplants, P. P. fdliis variegatis.

Description. A large, handsome, pyramidal tree, varying from 40 ft. to60 ft. in height, according to soil and situation; readily distinguished fromall other pines by the large clustered masses of foliage, of a much lightergreen than that of P. Laricio, which alternate with naked spaces, on theextremities of its branches. Thetrunk, even of young trees, isclothed with a deeply furrow'edcoarse bark, especially towardsthe base, where it generally in-clines to one side, from the weightof the top, when the tree is quiteyoung. The branches are in re-gular whorls, and invariably turnupwards. The groups of conespoint outwards in star-like clus-ters; whence the name of pinaster, or star pine. The malecatkins, which are, on dry soils,produced when the tree is only6 or 8 years old, are of a yellowor fawn colour, sometimes slight-ly tinged with red ; they are morenumerous, generally occupying aspace of from 4 in. to 6 in. or •more in length, round the baseof the shoot of the current year.

When these male catkins dropoff, the space they occupied isleft bare; and hence the alter-nation already mentioned, of tuftsof foliage and bare places, onthe extremities of the branches;and which are so much more conspicuous on this pine than on any otherEuropean species, from the greater number of catkins produced, and thegreater length of the leaves. The female catkins appear in whorls onthe extremities of the shoots of the current year; and are at first purple,but afterwards change to green, and, when they attain maturity, in theautumn of the second year, become of a rich shining brown. The pyra-midal termination to the scales of the cones is always much larger, andmore prominent, on the upper side of the cone than on the under side, andon that side of the tree which is exposed to the sun, than on that which is inthe shade. There is a more decided taproot in this pine than in any otherEuropean species; and, where the soil is dry and sandy, it descends perpen-dicularly into it, like the root of a broad-leaved tree. In proportion as theperpendicular roots are stronger than those of other pines, the horizontalroots are weaker; and hence, in the case of transplanted trees, from theweight of the head, produced by the dense mass of long foliage, the stemis generally inclined to one side; and when, after two or three years, it beginsto grow erect, a curvature appears close above the root, which remains visibleeven in old trees. The rate of growth is very rapid ; plants, in 10 years fromthe seed, attaining the height of 10 ft. or 12 ft., and, in twenty years, the heightof 30 ft., in the climate of London . The wood is in thick layers, soft, and notof great duration. The finest pinaster in the neighbourhood of London is