2 PINUS F L E X I L IS
Geographical Distrihidioti.—Tliis species occurs on the Rocky Mountains, from New Mexico to the
49th parallel, according to Parry, occupying the subalpine belt, never forming entire forests: in the lower
elevation associated with Pinus coniorla, appro;iching the Alpine districts, scattering with P. aristata.
Dr, Engelmann gives the following habitats with their authorit>': Fendlcr (n, 832) collected it in the
mountains above Santa Fe in 1847, and Dr, Bigelow found it in the neighbouring Sandia Mountains,
New Mexico, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. James, Parry, Hall, and
Harbour are authorities for its presence in Colorado, H. Engelmann for it on the Laramie Mountains and
on the headwaters of the Platte, Nuttall on the mountains from the Platte to the Bear River, Fremont on
the Wind River Mountains, and Dr. Hayden on the Big Horn Mountains and mountains at the headquarters
of the Snake River and of the Yellowstone, Missouri, and Columbia Rivers.
Dr, Engelmann mentions that where Mr, Fendler found it on the mountains of Santa Fe, it reached
a height of 60 to 80 feet; and notwithstanding this great size, he accepts the determination as correct, on
the groimd of Fendler being " a good authority,"
Dr. Bigelow (Pacif. Railroad Reports, vol. iv,, Whipple's Expedition, Botanical Report, p, 20), speaking
of the specimens met with at the Sandia Mountains, says, " In its cones and habit it is closely allied
to Pinus Strohis, which is the \\'hite or Weymouth Pine of the north and cast. On the authority of Dr.
James, who first disco\-ereiI this species, it is asserted that the seeds are large and edible." One would
imagine from this that Dr. Bigelow had not himself seen the cones, for if he had, he would not require to
refer to another authorit}-. A.s the period of the year when he was at the Sandia Mountains was in
October, the cones must at that time have been in perfection, according to the itinerary of Lieutenant
Whipple's Expedition which remained at Albuquerque (which lies in or at the base of the Sandia
Mountains) from the 17th October to the 6th of November 1853. Dr. Bigelow further mentions that
"at an elevation of the San Francisco Mountains nearly equal to that of the Sandia Mountains, it was
found again, forming a large and beautiful tree 100 to 130 feet in height" This would be about 2nd or 3rd
Januarj' 1854.
Dr. Engelmann (Tram. Acad. Sc. St. Louis, ii, p, 208) is of opinion that the trees seen by Dr.
Bigelow on San Francisco Mountains must belong to some other five-leaved species. In the meantime, at
all events, it will be safe to regard that point with doubt He quotes Lyall as finding it on the British
boundar>- line, in the Rock)^ Mountains; but for the reasons wc have given under its ally, P. albicaulis, we
rather refer what Lj-all met with to that species. As we have explained under the head of Abies
Douglasii, there seems to be a gap in the continuity of the productions of the Rocky Mountains to the
north of Pike's Peak.
The Pacific Railroad Explorations followed.
The last original observations are those of Dr, Engelmann in the paper already referred to in the
Transactions of ihe St. Louis Academy of Science. We have taken the description given by that botanist
as oar authority for the species; for James' description and Torrey's diagnosis in the Annals of the Ncu-
York Lyceum (vol, ii. p. 249), are based on notes only, no specimens having been collected. This fact
may account for some of the discrepancies of foregoing describers,
James, it will be seen, describes the cone as growing ercct, Nuttall, in direct opposition, figures it
pendent, and Engelmann (in Wislizenus' " Tour") says they are pendent, and in the description which we
have above quoted, says they are horizontal or declinate. The truth may perhaps be that they are at first
erect, and afterwards pendent Engelmann, in his latest paper (Suppl, to Parrj-'s Collections in Rocky
Mountains), says, " Dr. Parry notes that the cones grow several together, semi-pendulous at the extremity
of the horizontal branchlets."
Properties and Uses.—The only use to which this tree has yet been put is to feed Indians with the
seeds, James first recorded this. Engelmann mentions it in Wislizenus'" Tour," and in speaking of
Parry's collections, he says, " The large seeds of P. flexilis are, as Dr, James already stated, and as Dr,
Hayden confirmed, eaten by the Indians. They are distinguished from those of any other of our Pines
by a persistent sharp-keeled margin representing the wing" {loc. cit.)
Cidture.—We do not know of any plants of this species having yet been introduced into this country;
but from the height at which they are found on the Rocky Mountains, there is little doubt that it will prove
hardy when introduced.
[39] ^
History.—first noticc of this species is by Dr, James in Long's Expedition (1823), He says,
that, like Pinus Strobus, the leaves are five in a sheath, but that beyontl this there is little resemblance to
it •• The leaves are short and rigid, the sheaths short and lacerated, the strobiles erect, composed of large
unarmed scales, being somewhat smaller than those of P. rigida. but similar in shape and exuding a great
quantity of resin,"
Nuttall next figured it in his continuation of Michaux's " Sylva," pl. 112, Engelmann (Trans. St.
Louis Acad., supra cit.) says of it, " Nuttall's figure in his 'Sylva,' pl, 112, is very poor, and even quite
incorrect; nor can I learn that any specimen of his is preserved in the heri)arium of Mr, Durand or of
the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia, but suppose that he had our species in view,"
Engelmann is the next authority, who speaks of it in Wislizenus' " Tour in Northern Mexico in
1846-47," where he says, " A third species, Pinus(James), was overiookcd by Dr, Wislizenus,
but has been collected in five specimens by Mr, Fendler about Santa Fe (in 1847). Ils leaves in fives,
and pendulous cylindrical squarrose cones, assimilate it to P. Sirobus, but the seed is lai^^e and edible, as
Dr. James has already remarked, and the leaves are not serrulate and much stouter" (j). 89),
Tlie
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