P I N E T U M B R I T A N N I C U M.
labitat in Gallia: littore Allantico et Mecliterraneo, in Liisitania, in Hispania pra-sertim in P-sti'cma-
(tura, in Italia superiore, Apenninis borealibiis et centralibus.
A large tree reaching about 60 feet in height, and usually pyranii<lal and with a conical top. 'I'hc;
bark of the trunk is coarse and deeply furrowed. The branches are verticillate and erect. The lea\'es ui
twos [fig, r], of a rather bright and
pleasant green, reaching from 6 or
8 inches to even a foot in length,
thick, long, firm, and rigid, usually
without any waving or twisting,
slightly serrated on the margins,
and with numerous rows of stomata both on the back and inner side, but
varying according to size, rather more frequent on the back than on the
side, the relative numbers being about a fifth more on the back,
[figs. 2 and 3]. For example, a fine full-grown leaf shewed twenty-five mw.s
ifrj, inasBi I Fij. 3, mipiaed. back, and nineteen
on the inner side; and a smaller less - developed leaf
from another tree gave fifteen on the back to twel\-e on the
inner side. The sheath of the leaf is short and blackish,
from ; to ; of an inch in length. The buds are large, thick,
and vigorous, cylindrical, with a conictd apex as much as ^ of
an inch long, and I an inch broad, with strong scales curled
back, white and woolly, and free from resin. I'-igs. 4 and 5
shew them i
and accoai
6 when more advanced,
. These scales furnish
a reach' and easy
characler for distinguishing
this species
from almost
ever)- other. The
branchlets are covei vviLli the ;
shoot
Thesir
corticaceous renin
former scales, as shewn in fig. 7. The male catkins grow :
the shoot of the current year [sec fig. 8], nnd as the
extends they become fiu-ther separated from each other,
arc usually numerous, occu])ying,
by the time they reach maturity', a
space of 6 or more inches in length.
When they drop off of course they
leave a bare space intermediati' t)t'-
tween the leaiy- termination of last
year's shoot, and the leafy termination of the current year's shoot, which gives
the foliage of the tree something of a jiatchy aspect, in which tufts of foliage
and bare places alternate like some of the tufty American species of Tacdn.
This arises in a great measure from the length of the leaves, and the extent
ofspaceoccupiedbythenumerouscatkina. Asinglemalecatkinmagnifieii
IS shewn in fig, y. The anthers [figs. 10 and 11, magnified] are .as ii.sual bilocular. and the crest is rounded,
and thin at the edge, but very slightly lacerated. The female catkins [figs, 12 and grow around the central
bud at the apex of the current year's shoot, which pushes on and leaves them behind it at its base.
Fig.
Fig, 13 shews a single female young catkin magnified; figs, 14 and 15 the scaler
in different positions, magnified. Next year's shoot leaves them l)ehind in a cluster •
base, the yoimg lateral shoots sprouting
nut above them. The star-like cluster
of cones is the feature which has given
the name V\n-aster to this section of the
Pines. The voimg cones arc at first
purple. They veiy soon, however, become
id braa of the flower
r star-like clumji at its
green; and the second year, by
the time the cone liecomes mature, the
green turns into a rich fawn-colour.
They are arranged in a succession nf
whorls, varying in number, which together
form a large cluster of cones. The numbers in the dusters are very- variable. M. Loiseleur
Longchamps, in the " Nouveau Duh.imel," .states, on the authority of Dr Thore of I)ax, that on the sandy
\ ƒ If
I.andes of Bourdeaux, where the trees send down their tap-roots to a great
depth, clusters are sometimes foumi containing as many as 30 or 40. or even
80 or 100 conc-s. The full-grown cone is from |. to 6 inches in length, and
from ll to 2', inches in breadth at the broadest part. It is conical, but more
developed on the exjiosed side th.an the other [see plate]. The scales
[figs. 16 and 17, representing the inner and outer side, .md 18 a side view]
are from 1 to ij inches in length, and from 1 to ] iu breatlth at the widest
part. The ajiophy-sis is rhomboidal and pyramidal, transversely divided by a raised keel, with a hard rhomboidal
umbo in the centre, of an ash-grey colour, terminating in a small sharp point. The
inner side is all dark-brown except a narrow edging of pale-fawn colour parallel to the
margin. The remains of an obliterated defaced bract lie at the base of the back of the scale
[fig- 19]. The seeds have a broad but ni)t \-ery long wing [fig. 20] ; it is from 1
i; inches in length, and about half an inch in breadth. The seed itself is about threeeighths
1 /
of an inch in length, and not quite one-fourth in breadth ; it is bnnvn and without spots. The
cotyle<lons are seven or eight in number.
The tree tlowers in April in the Lan(ks, but later in England (May and June), and the fruit does
not attain maturity until the autumn of the following year.
This Pine has a deep tap-root—Dm don says deeper (" Arlwretum," iv, p. 2
!i8) than any other Euro-
) it like the root of a
pean species, and where the soil is dry and .«ndy it descends perpendicularly i
brex-id-leaved tree. The horizontal roots, on the other hand, are few compared with those of the other
Pines ; so much so, that from its hav ing few fibrous roots, it is often a matter of some difficulty to get the
young plants to transplant with safety. The tree grows ven/ rapidly; shoots of 5 feet in one year being
sometinies met ^^'ith. In twenty vears' time, a tree, under favourable circumstances, will reach 30 feet in
height. The timber, .as might be expected, is soft, and of little value for the ordinary purposes to which
timber is put. A tree cannot be said t<. he worth much whose chief uses are derived from its combustion,
as is the case with the Pinaster.
V \ R Escarcna.— Wc charadcrs of the variety Rscarcna are, according to Loudon and subsequent
authoritiei. that the leaves are of a paler green than those of the type, and the concs shorter and more
ovate. Lnulon says it is the most distind and handsome variety of / W r that he had seen. It
was introduce.l into this country by the Earl of Aberdeen from the mountams near Nice, where it had
been found by M Risso. growing, though rather sparingly, about twelve or fifteen miles from the city.
It m-w be very distind in its native habitat; but judging fn.m a specimen in the Horticultural Society's
' , B Garden
[ 26 ]