TAB. 10.
PINUS MARITIMA.
MARITIME PINE.
P jn us m Ait it i m a, foliis geminis tenuissimis, strobilis ovato-conicis glaberrimis solitariis pedunculatis.
Habitat in Europas Australis maritimis. Floret Junio.
Arbor 20-pedalis, ramosissima. Folia biuncialia, veJ parhm longiora, angustissiina, vagina brevissim&.
Strobili solitarii, pedunculatis cernui, ovati, superficie requales, lmvissimi ac nitidi. Seminum ala rnagna,
securifonnis.
The figure in the 10th Plate, representing the above species, was drawn from a specimen in the
Sherardian Herbarium, to which the following note is annexed:—
P. maritima foliis tenuissimis, conis albicantibus, brevibus, deorsum reflexis, in superficie asqualibus. Michel.
Pinastri alterum genus parvum, in maritimis, foliis capillamenti modo tenuissimis. C. Iso1.
P. maritima, conis cinereis, planis. Phytopin.
This tree, so far as I can judge from one growing at Sion House, the only one I have been able to find
grows to the height of about twenty feet. The branches are very numerous, and bear long filiform leaves,
resembling those of P. halepensis, which are more closely connected towards the extremities of the
branches. The cones are of nearly the same size as in P . rigida, but rather smaller. They are so remarkably
smooth and glossy, that they at once distinguish this species. Those which appear on Sherard’s
specimen hang downwards ; but those which I obtained at Sion House point upwards : one of the latter is
represented in the plate. In shedding their seeds, they seem to expand very little.
The following curious particulars relating to the Pinus maritima are extracted from Dr. Sibthorp’s
Papers, and published in Walpole’s interesting Memoirs:— “ FIsvxoc, one of the most useful trees in
Greece; it furnishes a resin tar, and pitch (arjWa), all of considerable importance for (Economical
purposes. Throughout Attica the wine is preserved from becoming acid by the means of the resin which
is employed, in the proportion of an oke and half to twenty okes of wine. The tar and pitch for Shipbuilding
are taken from this tree and the Ulrvc, the Pinus Pinea. The resinous parts of the wood of the
Tlsvxoi are cut into small pieces, and serve for candles, called fiotfox. The cones, xovvoi, are sometimes put into
the wine barrels. The bark is used in tanning hides. The wood is much employed by the carpenters in
building.”
Sir James Edward Smith informs me, that several young plants of this species were raised in this
country in the year 1821.
EXPLANATION OF TABLE 10.
A. Cones from the Sherardian Herbarium.
B.B. Scales of the same, with the seeds.
C. Separate Seed.
D. Leaves.
E. Point of a Leaf.
F. Cone from a tree in Sion Gardens.
G. Cone collected in Greece by the Honourable William Fox Strangways, and added to the plate.
EXTRACT
FROM A LETTER TO THE LATE J. STACKHOUSE, ESQ.
BY MR. HAWKINS.
“ You encourage me by what you say on this genus to communicate a few more of my observations.
“ I have already informed you that the Exaros (Pinus Picea) occurs on all the high mountains of
Greece, viz. Olympus, Pindus, Parnassus, Helicon, Cithaeron, Cyllene, Msenalus, Taygetus, See. See. and
in their upper region only serving as a sort of barometer, to mark their relative height, and growing invariably
on a calcareous rock, or, to speak more accurately, on a fine hazel mould which covers this rock. Of
these forests the lowest line of elevation I judge to be about 3000 feet.
“ I have already noticed a species of Fir, much resembling the risuxoj, and known among the Greeks
under the same name, which I found covering the mountains of Thasos, and forming pretty extensive forests
on Taygetus, Cyllene and Pindus. This tree has, I believe, escaped the notice of Dr. Sibthorp, but the
following are my reasons for thinking it a distinct species. First, its more sombre colour; that of the true
riejxof being a very pleasing and lively green. Secondly, a much straighter growth, and a more regular ramification
than that of the true Ilevxos, resembling in these characters the Pinus Sylvestris. Thirdly, a much more
elevated habitat; this being next in succession to that of the Exa-os, or Silver Fir.
“ The Ileuxoff is perhaps the most common tree of Greece, and it constitutes very extensive forests in Elis, and
the contiguous districts of Arcadia. There it finds a soil perfectly congenial to it, i. e. a stratified, more or less
indurated, sandstone, in which it attains a size fit for all the purposes of ship-building, and even sufficiently
large for the construction of ships of war. Accordingly, it is there only that an adequate idea can be formed
of the picturesque beauty of this tree, for in other situations and soils, its growth is comparatively insignificant,
and particularly so in Attica. We found it growing on the mountains of Cyprus, and occasionally
on those of Crete.
“ The fourth species of this genus, which occurs in Greece, is the K«*«.<«§<, our Stone Pine, the locality
of which is very remarkable, for it grows here and there in a narrow belt along the sandy shores of Elis
and Epirus, and within the reach of the salt spray. I found it however not exclusively in such situations,
for in Triphylia, i. e. the district on the south of the Alpheus, there is a forest of this tree which is above a
mile in breadth, and is bounded inland by another of the IIsoxos with which it intermixes. But even in
the most favourable situations, the Stone Pine attains not one half of the height of the Pefkos (riewxoS)
although its timber, in other respects, is thought to be equally as good for ship-building, and the quality of
both is greatly superior in closeness of grain, toughness, and durability, to that of our Pinus Sylvestris. Of these
two sorts of timber are all the planks used in the construction of the Greek vessels, while the ribs are composed
of the Qnercus Coccifera or CEgilops, and the masts either of Thasian Fir or of the Spruce or
Silver Fir from Fiume.
“ The plank timber of the risuxos is said to possess a greater pliability without being boiled, than even
the oak; and the knots in it, do not start, as in the common deal.
“ Pitch and turpentine are extracted in every part of Greece from the risuxoj. The splinters are
used for candles, and retain the old name of AaSc
41 Plutarch says that the LLruj and her sister trees (aosxipa osvSgu) Tesxai xa< js0'/3iXo< are the best for •shipbuilding.
The iLtus he observes grows sv a§yix;3sojj t.'tro<g in a clayey soil. Mountainous districts, he adds, exposed
to the wind and covered with snow, produce msxaj xai s?o0ixouj. n<TUf is termed by him which
can be applied to no other species than the Stone Pine, and this opinion is supported by Coray.