Fig. 38.—Cone and foliage (many
needles in each tuft) of the
Common Larch, Larix Europœa.
Of the natural size.
The larches and cedars form the second group or section of the Abietinæ, distinguished by the fact that the needle-like leaves grow in tufts of twenty to forty at the end of short stumpy branchlets or "spurs" (Fig. 38). In the larches, which form the genus Larix, the needles fall off every autumn and leave the tree bare, the annually-renewed feathery foliage contrasting, by its fresh bright green colour, with the darker hues of the persistent needles of other conifers. The common larch (Larix Europœa) is a native of the mountainous regions of Central Europe. The French call it Méléze. There are Himalayan, Japanese, and North American species. The common larch when full-grown is 100 feet and more in height, and has the branches arranged in whorls of diminishing length, so as to give the "Christmas-tree shape" so common among coniferæ. It was introduced into England in the seventeenth century.
The cedars closely resemble the larches, but have the leaves or needles persistent, and the large cones take two years to ripen, instead of one year, as in all the conifers which I have hitherto mentioned. The cedars form the genus Cedrus, and three species are distinguished, namely: (1) C. Libani, the cedar of Lebanon; (2) C. Atlantica, the North African cedar of the Atlas mountains; and (3) C. deodara, the Himalayan cedar or deodar. They are now considered to be geographical varieties of one species. They differ chiefly in the set of the branches and foliage. The cedar of Lebanon has the trunk forked, and gives rise to large, unequally disposed branches, spreading horizontally; it may have a spread of 100 feet and a height of 70 feet. In this country it is often uprooted by the wind, or its branches are broken by a weight of snow, when it has attained nearly full growth. The deodar cedar is more Christmas-tree-like in shape, the trunk rarely is forked, and it attains, in its native mountains, a height of 250 feet. The Atlas cedar is in many respects intermediate in character between C. Libani and C. deodara. The cedar of Lebanon is undoubtedly the most majestic of the conifers grown in English parks. It was introduced in the year 1665. There are specimens growing in this country of which the trunk has a girth of 25 feet.
The third section of the family Abietinæ is formed by the genus Pinus, of which the Scots fir, or Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris), is the type. The Abietinæ of this genus are distinguished by their foliage. There are two kinds of leaves—the primitive ones, which are little, scale-like, green up-growths closely scattered on the young branches; and the secondary ones, which are long needles carried as a tuft or fascicle on a very stumpy branchlet. These tufts of needles are persistent (that is to say, are not shed yearly), and differ from those of the larches and cedars in consisting of but few needles in a tuft, the number being characteristic of different species, some having five, others three, others two, and the American Pinus monophylla having only one. The general shape of these trees is not tapering like the spruce with unforked trunk, but they usually shed the lower branches as growth goes on, and present in most cases a trunk carrying an umbrella-like expanse of foliage-bearing branches, or several such expanses. The scales which form the cones in the genus Pinus are (with few exceptions, such as the Weymouth pine) not flat and flexible, but are thickened, swollen, and even knob-like and wooden at the exposed part, which is armed with a weak or a strong prickle (see Figs. 39, 40, and 41). The cones do not ripen until the end of the second or third season; they may be, according to species, erect, pendulous, or horizontal, and vary in size in different species. In some they remain closed on the trees for an indefinite period (even fifteen or twenty years), until opened by the heat of a forest fire or of an exceptionally hot season.
The Scots fir, Pinus sylvestris ([Fig. 31]), called Pin de Genève by the French, has a very wide range. It extends eastward and northward from the Sierra Nevada, in Spain, through Europe and Russian Asia; its northern limit approaches the Arctic circle, its southern limit is formed by the great mountain chains of the Alps, Caucasus, and Altai range of Asia. The beautiful blue-green colour of its needles, the fine red-brown tint of its trunk and branches, and the graceful spread of its foliage high up on a few great, unequally-grown branches springing from its tall, bare trunk, are amongst the most picturesque features of English landscape. In the southern counties "clumps" of a dozen or score of these graceful trees are often to be seen on some isolated hilltop in the moorlands, and are associated with poetic tradition and ancient superstition. In the North of Britain they are more frequent as forest. The Scots fir is the only pine tree really native in our land. It is distinguished from several other species of Pinus by having the leaves or needles in bundles of two, and having relatively small oblong cones (2 to 3 inches long) which are borne near the ends of the branches ([Fig. 31]). The constituent scales of the cone are only slightly thickened, and the surface knob has no prickle. There are two of the common pine trees of the Mediterranean coast (the Riviera and elsewhere), namely, the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) and the so-called Corsican or Austrian pine (Pinus Laricio), which agree in the above-given points with the Scots fir, and are, in fact, difficult to distinguish from it, except by general shape, mode of growth, and the colour of the leaves and stem. The needles of the Scots fir are 1½ to 3 inches long, those of P. halepensis 2½ to 3½ inches, and those of P. Laricio 4 to 6 inches long. The Pyrenæan or Calabrian pine is closely similar to these.
A very important and abundant pine on the Mediterranean and Biscay coast of France is the Pinaster (Pinus pinaster), often called the "cluster pine," and by the French Pin des Landes and Pin maritime (Fig. 39). It also has its needles, often 6 inches long, in groups of two. It is usually a smaller tree than the others, but in favourable localities attains a height of 80 feet. Its cones are twice as long as those of the Scots fir, often, as at Bournemouth, 4 and even 5 inches long, and its branches are slender in proportion to the trunk, the bark coarse and fissured, and its foliage (as is that of all the two-leaved set except the Scots fir) of a yellowish (not bluish) green. It has been found invaluable in holding sandy land from shifting and breaking up, and is planted for this purpose along the coast of the Landes and in other parts of the world.
Fig. 39.—Female Cone of the Pinaster, or Maritime
Pine (Pinus pinaster). Drawn of the
natural size from a Bournemouth specimen.
A still better-known pine, which, like those already mentioned, has its needles in pairs, is the stone pine (Pinus pinea), called by the French Pin de parasol and by the Italians Pino a pinocchi. This fine tree (usually bigger than the Pinaster) has been largely planted in Italy on account of its picturesque appearance. This is the tree which one sees so often in Turner's landscapes. The needles are 5 to 6 inches long, and the cones are very large and almost spherical, being often 5 inches long and 4 inches in diameter. The cones do not mature until the third year. The scales are very large and solid, which renders it difficult to extract the nut-like seeds, which are roasted and eaten. Hence the name stone-pine. The spreading, parasol-like shape of the stone-pine is characteristic. A few specimens are to be seen in cultivation in this country. In order to distinguish Pinus sylvestris from P. halepensis, laricio, pinaster, and pinea, the deep blue-green colour of the foliage of the first is sufficient, together with the shortness of its needles. To distinguish the others among themselves (except in the case of well-grown typical examples) it is necessary to examine the cones closely, and often when one comes upon these trees they are, on account of the season, devoid of these distinguishing products.
