ivergent, , to 3 inchcs long, ovoid i„ outline, oblique at the base, of a reddish-brown colour very
smooth and free from resin. They are composed of scales which are thic]< and woody, and of the same
elt-hke texture as the cones of the Cembra and most Stiver Firs; the apophyses project in flattened
cones of considerable length, somefmes terminating in knobs ; the umbo is small, terminating, in a point
but h ^ „0 sp,ne. The seeds (fig. 4) are wingless, or nearly so; when mature they are oval in form th;
size of large peas, and their flavour is agreeable. n lorm, tne
Dr. Newberty tnentions that the cones were so rare, that although constantly among the trees, and on
he outlook h,mself, he for long failed to find a single good cone, and he had for two weeks a„ ofl-er open
to all h,s party of a dollar for one, without any one being able to claim the reward Fragments of cones
recent or of other years were under every tree, but they had been most carefully sought and torn up by the
ht le pme squ.rrels for the sake of the kernel. At the end of two weeks' search, a smile of fortune fed him
where h.s wants were M y supplied It is curious enough that similar difliculty was experienced by Dr.
k „ o ! , T , ° ° f T American Boundary Commission ; and we happen to
ffoouunndd : they were Talm" ost al„l in' jured or bent to one sideJ. " ® " - ' ^ - - ' » be
Geosp-afhical DislMon.-\t was met with on IVIount Shasta in North California iat a,"
growing on granite rocks, at an elevation of 8000 to 5000 feet, and in the same locality more'lately by S :
M u a " : r n t : \ T i " " " - "f Cascade
and Spruces, which cover the mountains' sides. Pines of a species then quite new ,0 him began to appear
which grew luxunantly below; and at the height of 6500 feet found the scattered clusters of trees ,0 b
composed of nearly equal numbers of this species of Pine and of the beautiful Spruce
which in Ignorance that ,t had been previously described, Dr. Newber^ named Still
highei, at the extreme limit of vegetation, the bleak and barren surfaces were held by this Pine in
possession undisputed by other trees, but opposed by the rigours of a climate whieh had bowed it to the
ground forcing it to grow ,n thick and tangled masses scarcely rising above the surface; the trunks sometimes
of considerable size, creeping about among the rocks like roots^ = trunks, some
the N "•Z'""'^'"'' 1° L)'"» " f « - " h » he spcAs being found by
first observed by us near the eastern summit of the Cascade Mountains, about ;ooo feet a b o „ the sea
when 1 was found as the highest tree of the forest belt growing amongst rocks and granito debris, exposed
the full force of the storms which so frequently sweep over this elevated region. Here it was quite
stunted and shabby m its habit. The trunk of the largest seen in this situation was about ,5 feet I
" No cones of this tree could be found on the Cascades In the f „ l l „ „ . ; „ „ u
procured both on the G a k „ and Kocky .Mountains in greats,en" M l l Z a i r ^ rLrtle
(^LCjaul l mn Jouurrnn. JL inn. Soc,,'vii. p' . "1 42, 1864™). ^
Dr. Engelmann quotes Ur. Lyall s habitat as belonging to the true but its being found on
ere p ng habit, and smal s.e of the seeds (the only points noticed), would in themselves lead us to think
that .t more prcpedy belongs to the Cascade Mountains form o f / . . . / . , - t h a t is, />.
have
have had, moreover, the opportunity of examining Dr. Lyall's specimens themselves in Kcw Herbarium,
and find them identical with those of the present species sent home by Jeffrey.
Dr, Lyall refers them to the A ßexilis of Torrey, and notes specimens of another species of which he
procured the leaves, but not the cones, as probably the P. Canlroides of Newberrj', but this seems to be
an error. The latter is doubdess P. aristaia, with which its foliage in all respects corresponds.
Dr. Engelmann, in the " Botany of California," says that this is only an alpine form of ßexilis,
occupying a higher belt on the mountains, and marked by its short, thick, and thick-scaled cones.
History.—This species was first found by Jeffrey, the Collector of the Edinburgh Oregon Botanical
Association, He sent seeds and specimens home in 1851, They were unknown to the Committee, and
after a consultation between the best authorities in Edinburgh and London, they arrived at the conclusion
that they belonged to P. ßexilis of James and Nuttal. This, however, seems to have been an error, for,
although nearly allied, the two species appear to be distinct, the ßexilis of James having the cones pendent
or semi-pendent, and 4 or 5 inches long, while in this species they are erect, and only 2 inches long. This
species also differs in having the branches pubescent, a few scattered teeth on the edges of the leaves, and
by having short oval cones with thick squamose scalcs sometimes pointed with a knob, and lastly by the
colour of the bark of the tree, which Dr. Newberry describes as white as milk, from which character Dr.
Engelmann originally proposed for it the name ol albicaulis.
Dr, Newberry, who next after Jeffrey met with the present species, found that his description agreed
well with that of his tree, except that he did not mention the white bark. He came to the conclusion,
however, that it was not the P. ßexilis of James, and he recorded it under the name oi P. Cetnbroides,
supposing it to be the tree so named by Zuccarini—a supposition, however, solely based on conjecture from
the name itself, for he mentions that he had not seen Zuccarini's description. His reference is " Cembroides,
Zucc, Journ. Hort. Soc," i, 236. That reference belongs to Gordon, not to Zuccarini. The description
by the latter Is given to the " Flora," 1S32. And if it is Gordon's Cembroides that Newberry really refers
to, there is not the slightest question that it is different from this species. This is of the Cembra type, with
felt-like surface. Gordon's (see woodcut in P. Cembroides) is with a hard, somewhat glossy apophysis, and
has no relation to Cembra. and it is apparent that the same is the case with Zuccarini's, the cone of which
is described by him as with "strobilis sub-globosis, squamis (seminiferis) basi concavis coriaceis apicem
versus induratis recurvis rhombeo vel pentagon© umbonatis"—that is, with sub-globose cones, and with the
scales (seed-bearing) hollow at the base, with the apophysis coriaceous, hardened, recurved, and with a
rhomboidal or pentagonal umbo—a descripdon perfectly applicable to the P.edulis, but not to any member
of the Cembra section. Zuccarini applied the name " Cembroides" (Cembra-like) to it—not on account of
general similarity, but on account of resemblance in a single point—viz., " Das gefuge der Zapfen schuppen
ist ganz dem von P. Cembra ähnlich und veranlasste mich desshalb zu dem trivialnamen P. Cembroides"
(Zuccar. in "Flora," 1832, ii, 93). "The groove of the scales of the cone is wholly similar to that of
P. Cembra, and suggested to me on that account the trivial name P. Cembroides." He had already
in the description specially mentioned the groove or concavity of those of the scales which were
seed-bearing—a deep hollow in which, in P. Cembra and all the Nut Pines, the seed is ensconced.
Zuccarini, having never seen that peculiarity in any but P. Cembra, naturally thought it a remarkable
character, but it is not a character confined to Cembra. It occurs in all the sections of Pines where the
seeds are large.
Dr. Engelmann having afterwards received specimens of the true P.ßexilis, gave {loc. cit) a more
accurate description than had previously been done of that species, and pointed out the differences between
it and the present species; and as the name Cembroides given to the latter by Dr, Newberry could not
stand, he gave it the name {albieaulis) which we have adopted. In his more recent monographs, however,
Engelmann refers the plant as a variety to P. ßexilis.
Properties
[34] A =