The common larch is a fourth common kind of conifer. It is distinguished from other pine trees which flourish in England by shedding its needles so as to leave itself bare in the winter. It is called "Larix Europœa," and is closely related to the cedars. It was introduced into England in 1629.
Man by his migrations and trading journeys has had far more to do with the introduction and spreading of trees, and even of small flowering plants, from one country to another, than is commonly suspected. It appears that of the trees I have already mentioned only the Scots fir is really native to these islands. Even the Christmas tree, the common spruce, was introduced from the Continent by invading man after we had become separated by the sea from the mainland of Europe. The introduction took place, it seems, in very early times, and there is no record of the event. Peat deposits have been studied and their age estimated, and it is found that in those of the age of the neolithic men there are no remains of spruce, but only of Scots firs!
The conifers are remarkable not only for their "cones," but for the needle-like shape which their leaves often present, whence the latter are spoken of simply as "needles." Conifers are also distinguished by the fine aromatic oils which they produce in these needles and in their wood, which serve them as a protection against browsing animals, although to man their perfume is agreeable. In the Tyrol, near Cortina, I remember a little shop in the pine woods where you could buy the odorous essences extracted from the different species of conifers growing around, and each species had its own special perfume. Besides these aromatic oils, the conifers produce peculiar resins, such as colophon, amber, kauri gum, Canada balsam, Dammar varnish, and others, and also various qualities of turpentine, tar, and pitch.
I have mentioned the three commonest conifers which flourish in England, and have pointed out that only one of them—the Pinus sylvestris, or Scots fir—is really indigenous to our islands. It extends all over Europe, except the extreme south and west, and right through Russian Asia. In the Alps, at the height of 3000 to 5000 feet, it is represented by a dwarf recumbent species, the Pinus montana, or P. pumilio. There is another really native conifer in Britain which belongs to a peculiar family, that of the cypresses. This is the common juniper, called by botanists "Juniperus communis," a mere shrub, but still a beautiful little thing, noticeable for the fine perfume of its leaves, which is used for flavouring "gin," and for its peculiar minute and compact berry-like cones. It has a very wide range, flourishing throughout the north temperate region of Europe, Asia, and America. There is another juniper well known in England, namely, the Savin (Juniperus Sabina). This is not a native, but was introduced before 1548. It has powerful medicinal properties.
When we spend our holidays abroad in Switzerland or on the Mediterranean shores we come across many other flourishing, well-established kinds of pines, firs, and cypresses. And we need not leave England in order to make acquaintance with a very large number which have been introduced from abroad into plantations and parks, and grow under favourable circumstances, but cannot be said to have established themselves as naturalized inhabitants. Among those more anciently introduced is the cedar of Lebanon; of later introduction we have the Indian cedar or deodar, and the Weymouth pine, Pinus Strobus, a North American tree. Still later a veritable crowd of American, Himalayan, Japanese, and Chinese pine trees of one kind and another have been introduced by dealers and their rich clients, the owners of park plantations, so that it is now far easier to see in the grounds around great English houses all sorts of pine trees from remote regions of the earth than the British species, or those interesting European kinds which have some kind of community with them, and are, at any rate, objects of interest to the naturalist whose familiar ground is that of Europe. Most people are utterly perplexed by the number of kinds, and do not know one from another.
In order to discuss a little further in detail the commoner kinds of Coniferæ besides those which may be considered as truly British, and have been mentioned above, we must take a glance at the plants related to the natural order Coniferæ, and then at the divisions of that natural order into families and tribes. The Coniferæ are an order of the great class of Gymnosperms—one of two classes into which the flowering plants or Phanerogams are divided, the other being (as explained above) the Angiosperms (palms, grasses, lilies, and all our ordinary trees, shrubs, and flower-bearing herbs). The orders included under "Gymnosperms" are: First, an order, the Pterido-spermia, comprising certain remarkable fossil forms connecting them with ferns; second, the order Cycadeæ, an ancient group, of which only a dozen or so kinds survive to this day; third, the order Gnetaceæ, including Wellwitch's strange African plant and the little European Ephedras, resembling the plants called horse-tails; fourth, the order of the Gingko trees of Japan, called also Salisburiæ, with leaves like those of the maiden's-hair fern. They and one or two others are survivors of an important extinct group (the Gingkoaceæ), which we know by their fossil remains flourished in great numbers before the chalk period. Then we have: fifth, the order Taxaceæ (or yew trees); and, sixth, the order Coniferæ (or cypresses, pines, cedars, and firs). The first four orders, though very interesting, exceptional plants we will leave aside, as they do not come very near to the Coniferæ. The order of yew trees, Taxaceæ, however, does come close to the Coniferæ, and sometimes they are grouped together.
Fig. 32.—The Common Yew, Taxus baccata.
a, Part of a branch (of the natural size) showing
the needle-like leaves in two opposite rows,
and three fruits. The cup-like growth
which is seen surrounding the naked seed
is called an "aril." It is of a fine crimson
colour, soft, juicy, and sweet-tasting.b, The young cone-like growth or "flower" of
the yew, from the end of which one seed and
its cup-like aril will develop. Magnified.c, The seed surrounded by the incompletely
grown aril or cup at a later stage. Less
highly magnified than b.
There is one truly native British example of the order Taxaceæ—the common yew tree, called "Taxus baccata" by botanists. Its leaves are "needles," like those of most conifers, but much flattened, and it has the sombre colour and the general aspect of some of the larger conifers. But its ovule-bearing flower, although it appears when young (Fig. 32, b) to be built up by several scale-like leaves like the cone of a conifer, does not continue in that form, and ceases to have any resemblance to a "cone." Only the terminal leaf or scale of the group enlarges and develops an ovule, and around this grows an open cup-like protection of the most delicate crimson colour—soft, sweet, and luscious (Fig. 32, c and a). It is as big as a pea, and is largely eaten by birds and by schoolboys! Yew trees have from time immemorial been planted and cared for in Great Britain, since its wood was formerly greatly valued for making archers' bows. Wild groves of yew trees, once existing, have been largely destroyed. Some of the finest are on the chalk hills of Surrey, where the yew flourishes alongside of the juniper. Very fine yew trees are often found growing, one or two together, in village churchyards, where they have been planted in remote times, just as cypress trees are to-day planted in cemeteries in the South of Europe. Yew trees with trunks from 30 to 50 feet in girth at 12 feet from the ground are known, and it is probable that some are as much as a thousand years old.