Habitat in toto Alpium jugo, i
alpinam frequens, alt. 4000 to 6500.
Carpathis, in jugo Uralenfi, per I Siberian! borealem ct
A lianclfome tree, of large fize; moll pleafmg to the eye from its rich dark-green foliage, Branches
tortuous; foliage irregular; bark grifeous, fcabrous, and hoarj-. Leaves from 2 to 3 inches long, ufually
five, fometimes four or fix, in the Iheath [fig. i], fcarcely half a line
in breadth, ver>' dark green, ftiff, triangular, with a fharply prominent
keel, convex on the back, ferrulated on the edge and keel fo as
to feel rough when drawn forwards through the fingers [fig. 2], rendered
filvcrj- on each fide of the keel by from three to five UTCgular
rows of ftomata [figs. 3 and 4J, the back without ftomata ;
the ftomata fmall and not ver}' clofe together; the bafe of the
flicath cortical, hard, fcarcely two lines in length; the flieath itfclf
is two lines in length, compofcd of feveral linear, fpathulate, obtufe,
meinhranacei>us, dry, brown fcales, at firit combined into a kmd
of imbricated flicath, foon fallmg loofely open and dropping off.
Fig. 5 fliews the bafe of the leaves and their infertion, Male cat-
' * ^ kins [figs. 6 and 7] fliort, brownifli violet-red, fubterminal, cluftered '''' '
together, 5 to S lines long, oblong-cylindrical, verj- obtufe, provided with a fort of cal>'x compofed of
oblong, obtufe, fliining brown brads at the bafe. Anthers bilocular, fulphur yellow, with the margins
and connexion of the loculi red, the latter produced into a fliort reniform emarginate (liarply crcnulated
creft, of the fame colour [figs. 8 and 9], The pollen is fo abundant, that when the tree is in
r the tree feems to be covered with yellow dult. The young
ing the leaves, ovate, ohlong, violaceous or greenifli, often ho;
/n they become axillarj', in confe(|uence of the fubfecjuent growtl
feffile, erect, oval, obtufe, generally from two to three inches 1<
flower, the ground undt
terminal, concealed am.
afterwards when full-gro'
ing iiranchlets: they
rylindrical form. Scales [figs. and 11] with the ajxipliyfis foniewh
reffed, fometimes longitudinally nigofe, with the margins narrowly reflex
I broad obtufe umbo; the bafe broad, wedge-fliaped, deeply excavated
for the reception of the feeds, and alfo on the back by the prcffure of the feeds behind it. The feeds
wholly apterous [figs, 12 and ,3], ohovate, acute at the bafe, very obtufe at the apex, convex and gibbous
on the back, the remamder flattilh, the teft or Oiell thick offeous, Cotyle<lons from 6 to .3 in number
[fig, 14],
D c f c r i p t i o n . - U ,ts native countiy this tree reaches the heigiit of t2o feet, when it becomes a magnificent
object; a tall pile of foliage, with a fine rounded oak-likc top. In Britain it fcarcely exceeds
50 feet, which may perhaps be owing to the fact that it is a now-growing tree, and the oldeit trees here .ire
only about 115 years old. In the earlier ftage of its growth it is an creft pyramidal tree, diltingullhc.l by
its dark-green foliage, witli filvcry gleams from the argcnteous fides of the leaves. To our eye it is a molt
beautiful tree. All taHes are not alike, however. Perhaps it needs an inltnic\c<l cye-au eye educate.!
in firs—to appreciate its beauty, A writer in the ' Edinburgh Review' (October 1864), fpeaking of the
comparatively late period at which this fpecies was introduced into Britain, and which he thought was to be
accounted for by its having been confounded with the Scotch Fir, relates the following anecdote ;—'• The
mofl Important of the negleclcd fpecies was the Ccnibra, a trcc which, although it appears to our eyes dlftinct
enough from the Scotch I-ir, has yet fufficient general refemblance to render it probable that It may have
been miltaken for it True, its leaves arc five inftead of two in the Iheath, lefs rigid, of a daiker green,
with a beautiful filver lining, which gives a peculiar hoaiy character to the foliage when moved iiy the wind ;
the cone is alfo quite different, and the feeds are large, winglcfs, and good to eat, forming an agreeable
nutty-flavoured addition to the food of the inhabitants of the countries In which it grows. But we hai.-e
ndcd in our own times under circumftances which may make us very
1 the days of our anceftors, A nobleman in the weit of Scotkuul, fomc
)ve of Cembras of greater age and beauty than were to l,)e found any when'
of his heart and the delight of his eyes. They had been planted along
heard of the two being confou
lenient to any fiinilar inlftake ii
twenty years ago, poffeffcd a gn
around. They were the pride
with Scotch I'irs which had ferved as
rajjld growth than the Cembras, fuch c
forefter juft at the time that he was obliged to leave his country' refitlence to attend to his duties in Parliament
Ji-fes, but were now moftly removed, although, being of more
eniainecl had overtop()ed theni. He had got a new gardener or
Being, however, more of a country gendcman than a politician or (tatcfman, he hurried home as
foon as poffible, and one of the firft vlfits after his arrival was to his chcrilhetl grove of Cembras. Slowly
and benignly he paced up the hill like one prolonging the pleafure of antlclp.ited cnjoynienL He came
down more quickly, and lefs benignly—not benignly at all, indeed; for when he reached the angle where
he fliould have come in view of his gro\-e, he lookeil for the Cembras in vain. He ftarted, ftared, and
i-uflicd forward ; not a Cembra was there ; the Scotch Firs were left alone In dieir glory ; and there Itood
the new gardener fmug upon the fpot, with the well-fatisficd fmirk of one who had deferved well of his
mafter—ti-ie m-ns coufcia n \ l i beaming on his countenance—ready to claim the
having fo well thinned out the grove. Believing the Cembras to be
down, an.l left nothing but the taller Scotch I'irs. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The honeft
m.nn had heard that in thinning It was wife to take the weak and leave the itrong, and had acK-d upon it,
without fufpcding fliat he was dealing with two different quantities."
Mr M.axtone Graham of Cultoquhcy, near Crieff, in l'crthlblre, has a ver\' fine f[.
clofe habit and ercd gix)wth (the variety callcd b>' Carrière P. Cembra siriBa
what limilar way from the predilections of his gardener years ago. It encro;i
blackbeny bu(li, and the gardener pruned it year after year to give fpace to
tree is a fpecimen one u'hich cc.nilerotis cnthufiafts come from a diftance t<
hollow in Its llde, marking the place xvhere it was cut awny to make ro<
There are educated eyes, however, which fee no beauty in the Cembra
it as formal and not h.mdfome. He fays,
wife than ornai
[ '(-. ]
of gratitude for
relv fmaller firs, he had cut them
of unufually
•hich fuffered in a fome-
•oaclied u[)on a neighbouring
to his blackbcrry Inilli. The
fee ; but it itill bears a flight
1 for its more favoured rival.
Even Mr Loudon fpeaks of
Though we hold it to be fcarccly poffible for a pine to be
other reafon than its being an evergreen), yet c cannot help
confidering