22 54
AltUOKETUM AND l'RUTlCE'l UM.
PART 111.
species may possibly arise from the seed from which they were raised havingbeen produced by trees growing in the warm valleys of Nepal ; and that,“ by procuring seed from trees at the highest elevation at which they arefound to exist, plants might be raised sufficiently hardy to stand the climateof Britain .” {Man., &c., p. 356.) Price of plants, in Lawson’s Nursery,2 5s. each.
§ viii. GerardS. anae.
Sect. Char. Leaves rather short, straight, stiff, with the sheaths caducous.
4 23. P. Geraed/.i'.v^ Wall. Gerard’s, or the short-leaved. Nepal, Pine .
Identification. Lamb. Pin., ed. 2.,2. t.79. j Lawson’s Manual,p. 356.; Lodd. Cat,ed. 1836.
Synonym*. P. Neosa Govan ; eatable-seeded Pine of the East Indies j ? Chilghbza Elphinstone, nothe authority of Royle Illust., p. 32.
Engravings. Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 2. t. 79.; Royle Illust, 185. f. 2.; and our fig. 2153., from Royle, toour usual scale; and figs. 2151. and 2155., the cone from Lambert, and the leaves from Royle,both of the natural size.
Sjiec. Char., Sfc. Leaves in threes, short; sheaths deciduous. Cones ovate-oblong; scales thick, blunt, and recurved at the apex. {Lamb. Pin.)Leaves, in Royle’s figure, from 3^ in. to Sin. in length; sheaths im-bricate, fin. in length. Cone 8in. long, and nearly 5in. broad. Seed| in. long, and § in. broad ; cylindrical, pointed at both ends, and of adark brown.
Description. A large tree, conical in form, and compact in habit; rea-dily known from all other 3-leaved pines by the sheaths from whichthe leaves proceed being scaly, and falling off, like the sheaths of thedivision of pines having five leaves. The appearance of the leaves, withthe scales, has been given by Dr. Royle, from which our fig. 2155 b. is co-pied ; and the leaves may be seen without the sheaths, as they appear onthe branches when full grown, in fig. 2155 a., also from Royle. The cones,which bear a general resemblance to those of P. longifolia, are from 8 in.to 10 in. in length, and from 5 in. to 6 in. in breadth, with thick, broad,wedge-shaped scales, not woody, like those of P. Sabiniana, but rathercorky. The apexes are elevated, and dilated laterally, forming a semi-circular line above, and two convex segments, meeting in a blunt corkypoint, below, and turned downwards, as in fig. 2154. The leaves arestraight, of a glaucous green, with two channels above, and convexbeneath; obsoletely crenulated along the centre and margins. Nothingis said respecting the timber of this tree; but the seeds are eaten by theinhabitants of the lower parts of India , in the southern countries. rp '""species was discovered by Capt. P. Gerard, of theBengal Native Infantry; and named in commemorationof him by Dr. Wallich. Cones have been sent toEngland, by Dr. Wallich and others, at different times;though they are often confounded with those of P.longifolia. The plant named P. Gerardidna in the :
Horticultural Society’s Garden has persistent sheaths,and long slender leaves, and is, doubtless, P. longifolia;and the same may be said of a number of plants atMessrs. Loddiges’s. A plant at Sir Oswald Moseley’s,said to be raised from seeds sent home by the Marquessof Hastings as those of P. Gerardia'iia, is a 2-leavedpine; and evidently, from the specimen kindly sent tous by its proprietor, who is an exellent botanist, and ofthe same opinion, nothing more than P. Pinea. Ayoung plant at Dropinore, named there P. Neosa, maypossibly be true. Mr. Lawson has received cones andseeds from the East Indies, and has plants of the trueP. Gera rdidna for sale at 3 5s. each. There are also plantsof the true P. Gerardiawa in the Clapton Nursery, under its svnonyme of P-Neosa.