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ARBORKTUJVI AND FHUTICETUM.

PART III.

found in the neighbourhood of habitations. It grows with the greatest luxu-riance on the deep sandy banks of rivers, or the shores of the sea ; and someremarkably fine specimens of it were observed by M. Desfontaines on theshores of the Mediterranean, between Marseilles and St. Tropez ; and by M.Audibert, near Saintes , and in the neighbourhood of Hieres. The onlyinstance recorded of a wood of the stone pine being found in France is thatmentioned by M. Malesherbes, in Lower Languedoc, on the right bank ofthe Rhone. (Desf. Hist, des Arbres, ii. p. 622.) In Italy , the stone pines ofRavenna are celebrated for their beauty ; and, indeed, the stone pine formsthe most ornamental tree in the landscape scenery of Italy ; as well as occa-sionally in Britain , where its fine dark leaves, copious male blossoms, whichdiffuse a shower of sulphureous pollen on all the neighbouring plants, and itsmossy cones, render it as striking as it is beautiful. Miller thinks the tree nota native of Europe , because it is never found growing but near dwelling-houses. It is certainly plentiful in China , he says, whence he had severaltimes received the seeds. {Diet. , ed. 6., 1752.)

History. Pliny praises the stone pine for bearing fruit in three stages ofits growth at the same time. He also speaks of the kernels, which, he says,were preserved in honey ; and he mentions the variety with tender shells, asbeing then common in the vicinity of Tarentum. The kernels have been foundamong the domestic stores, in the pantries of Herculaneum and Pompeii . Thestone pine is mentioned by nearly all the writers of travels in the south ofEurope , from the beautiful effect it produces in the scenery; but the mostremarkable tree recorded of this species is one in the south of France , on theSablettes, a tongue of land which joins the peninsula of Giens to Provence .This pine is conspicuous for its great beauty and majestic shape. According toM. G. Robert, who measured it on the spot, it has a trunk 12 ft. in circumfe-rence, which is clear of branches to the height of 30 ft.; at which point thebranches that form the head commence, and extend in height 30 ft. more, andhorizontally so as to cover a circle of 100 ft. in diameter. This tree is placedin a most conspicuous and striking situation, it being the only tree existing inthe middle of the tongue of land on which it grows, and being close to theMediterranean. There is, indeed, little doubt but that its roots find their wayinto that sea, as, when a trench was opened in the immediate vicinity ofthe tree, it filled instantly with salt water. It is worthy of notice in the his-tory of the stone pine of Sablettes, that, about the year 1770, during theAmerican war, an English and an American ship being engaged in battle inthe Mediterranean, an English bullet struck the trunk of this pine, and lodgedin it, where it has remained ever since, without, apparently, doing the treethe slightest injury, the wound having closed over, and even the scar havingdisappeared.

The stone pine was introduced into England before 1548, as it is mentionedin Turner’s Names of Herbes, &c., published in that year ; and, as the seedsare easily procured from Italy , it has been frequently planted in collections.Owing to its slow growth and comparative tenderness, it has, however, beengenerally choked by other trees, so that good specimens are rarely to be metwith in English plantations..

Poetical Allusions. The following description of the stone pines of Ravenna is by Leigh Flunt: —

“ Various the trees and passing foliage there,

Wild pear and oak, and dusky juniper,

With briony between in trails of white,

And ivy, and the suckle’s streaky light,

And moss, warm gleaming with a sudden mark,

Like flings of sunshine left upon the bark,

And still the pine, long-haired, and dark, and tall,

In lordly right, predominant o’er all.

Much they admire that old religious tree,

With shaft above the rest up-shooting free,

And shaking, when its dark locks feel the wind,

Its wealthy fruit with rough mosaic rind.”

Properties and Uses. The wood of the stone pine is whitish, moderately