CHRISTMAS TREES AND OTHER PINE TREES
WHEN winter grips our land it is fitting to discourse about the sweet
and refreshing pine trees which are especially associated in northern
climes with the celebration of Christmas. The delicious perfume which
they diffuse is destructive both of microbes and noxious insects,
whilst they are always linked in our minds with glorious mountain-sides
or breezy moorland, or the delightful sand dunes and grey rocks of the
sunny shores of the Mediterranean. The decoration of trees on days
of festival and joyful celebration with garlands, lamps, and gifts
is an immemorial custom of mankind, and it is probably merely the
accident of its being convenient in shape, evergreen, cleanly, and
sweet-smelling that has led to the selection of the common spruce as
the "Christmas tree." It was not until the reign of Queen Victoria
that the custom of bringing a young spruce fir into the house, growing
in its special flowerpot, and then decorating it and making it the
centre of a children's festival, became established in England. The
25th of December was celebrated in pre-Christian times in Northern
Europe as the beginning of the New Year, and it was only after much
opposition adopted by the Roman Church in the sixth century as a feast
day in celebration of the birth of Christ. The Puritans rejected it as
idolatrous, but its observance was restored by Charles II. In Scotland
it is still ignored, and in Latin countries presents (_strenæ_, or in
French _les étrennes_) are given on New Year's Day and not on Christmas
Day.
The spruce is in our part of the world the commonest of the great
series of cone-bearing trees which we speak of as pines and firs.
Botanists call this series or "natural order" of trees the Coniferæ,
in reference to the fact that their flowers are cone-shaped growths
consisting of scales set in a spiral order around a central stem.
Each scale is more or less overlaid by a second small scale or
"bract" (sometimes evanescent), and on the inner surface of the
deeper scale the naked ovules are carried in the female cones, whilst
the pollen-producing growths are similarly carried by the smaller
and more delicate male cones. The ovules are exposed nakedly, and
are, therefore, in a more primitive condition than those of ordinary
flowering plants, in which they are overgrown and enclosed by the
modified leaves which form the "pistil" or central part of the flower.
Hence the conifers are called flowering plants with "naked seeds," or
Gymnosperms, whilst the rest of the flower-bearing plants are called
plants with "covered seeds," or Angiosperms. The cones are at first
green (sometimes purple), and become brown as they ripen. The small
loosely-packed male cones, less familiar to most people than the solid
and large seed-bearing cones, are often of a fine crimson colour when
young, and when ripe of a bright chestnut brown, but the cones of pine
trees are with few exceptions (the Douglas fir is one) not brilliantly
coloured nor set out to attract the eye, as are the flowers of most
flowering plants. Though a young branch carrying its groups of green
"needles," rich brown male cones, silver-white hairs and swelling
seed-cones (Fig. 31) presents a very fine harmony of diverse colours,
yet they are not constructed so as to attract the visits of insects.
They do not require the services of insects to carry the pollen of the
male cones to the ovules of the female cones. They produce an enormous
amount of pollen, which falls in showers of yellowish-white dust, and
is blown by the wind, far and wide, on to the female cones. Hence it is
that though the cones are "flowers," and the pine trees are flowering
plants, yet they have none of the beautiful shapes and colours which
we associate, as a rule, with flowers--shapes and colours due to the
modification in the latter of the leaves called "petals" which are set
with attractive brilliancy around the stamens and pistil. The conifers
are an ancient race, dating from geological ages before the chalk, when
plants had not "learnt" (as they subsequently did) to colour their
flowers and to provide nectar so as to ensure the visits of insects
and the carriage by them of their pollen from plant to plant. Even in
the group of plants with coloured flowers there are trees which have
abandoned the production of colour in their flowers, and like the
conifers depend upon the wind to carry their pollen instead of seeking
the aid of insects.
The word "pine" is of Latin origin, and belongs properly to the South
of Europe; the word "fir" is Teutonic, and is originally applied to the
same trees in the North of Europe as those to which "pine" is applied
in the South. It is of no use trying to determine what conifers should
rightly be called "firs" or "fir trees," and which "pines" or "pine
trees." There is complete confusion and indifference nowadays in the
use of those words, and the botanists have in the past added to the
confusion by their changing and uncertain use of the names Pinus and
Abies. A definite system of naming has now been agreed upon, and we
must, in order to understand one another in talking about conifers,
strictly accept and adhere to the names at this moment assigned to them
by the common consent of botanical authorities.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.--A fertile branch of the Scots Fir, Pinus
sylvestris, showing the small male cones, _m.c._, and the larger female
cones, _f.c._, also the foliage needles grouped in pairs. Drawn of
two-thirds the natural size, linear.
The lower figures relate to the male cone. a, A ripe male cone,
slightly enlarged; b, inner face of one of the scales of the male
cone, showing the paired pollen-producing or stamen-like patches--much
magnified; c, outer face of the same scale.]
The Scots fir is Pinus sylvestris. "Pinus" is the name of a genus
of conifers, and includes many species besides sylvestris, our own
familiar Scots fir, which is often now spoken of by the queer,
ill-sounding title of Scotch pine. The Norway spruce or pine, called
often "common spruce," also "the spruce fir," and "Christmas tree," is
the "Picea excelsa" of correct botany. There are several other species
of the genus Picea. A third well-known conifer, the silver fir, is
called by botanists "Abies pectinata"; there are many other species
of Abies. Although it has such a familiar, sweet-sounding name, the
silver fir is not a common tree in England, where it was introduced
only three hundred years ago. It will not thrive at Kew Gardens. It is
the common forest-making fir of the centre of France and of much of the
mountainous country of Southern Europe,[14] but it is rarely to be seen
in the Swiss mountains (only in certain relatively low-lying valleys).
The pine forests of those mountains are almost exclusively formed by
the spruce, with the addition of a few Scots firs and larches, and in
some parts of the Arolla fir or pine.
[14] It is, according to botanical authorities, from the wood of the
silver fir, which still grows on Mount Ida, that the Greeks, as related
by Virgil, constructed the Trojan horse.
"Instar montis equum, divina Palladis arte
Ædificant, sectaque intexunt _abiete_ costas!
(A horse of mountain size they build
By art divine of Pallas helped
And weave its ribs with planks of fir).
"Æneid," ii. 15.
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.
[Illustration: 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.
Many varieties of the yew tree occur in these islands. A celebrated
variety is that in which the branches are all directed upwards rather
than horizontally--a frequent form of variation in trees which more
usually have spreading, nearly horizontal branches. This variety is
called "fastigiate" (the "fastigiate" condition of the common cypress
tree is the one usually cultivated, although there are common varieties
with spreading branches), and in the case of the fastigiate yew it is
accompanied by a variation in the disposition of the needles or leaves.
Instead of being carried right and left in a single row on each side
of the young branches, as is usual with yews, the needles are set all
round the branch in spiral order (as they are in many conifers). This
variety was found growing wild in Co. Fermanagh, Ireland, nearly two
hundred years ago, and a couple of trees of it were then cultivated at
Florence Court by the Earl of Enniskillen of that date. Thousands of
cuttings have been sent from one of these two original trees, which
is still vigorous (I saw it some thirty years ago at Florence Court)
all over the world. It is known as the "Florence Court yew," or "Irish
yew," and is commonly planted in gardens. But all are from cuttings
of this one original tree, or cuttings of its cuttings, and all, like
their parent, are female berry-bearing trees, for the male and female
flowers grow on separate trees in the yew.
The foliage of the yew contains aromatic and other chemical products,
which render it poisonous to cattle. It is said not to be poisonous
when quite fresh, but only some time after cutting. This, however,
needs confirmation. The yew makes an admirably compact and impervious
screen when grown as a hedge, and has been largely used in gardens for
this purpose. In the sixteenth century it was the custom to clip yew
hedges, or small yew trees, into all sorts of strange shapes, birds,
beasts, and crowns. The name "topiary" is given to this fanciful work.
The popularity of the yew in the gardens of those days is due to
the small number of our native evergreen shrubs and trees; they are
yew, Scots fir, juniper, holly, privet, ivy, butcher's broom, box (a
doubtful native), spurge-laurel, and mistletoe. Up to the end of the
seventeenth century only a few evergreens had been introduced from
abroad, viz., spruce pine, silver fir, stone pine, pinaster, the cedar
of Lebanon, savin, arbor vitæ, evergreen oak, sweet bay, Portugal
laurel, laurustine, and arbutus.
I have often wished to have some simple, straight-forward information
as to conifers, so as to be able to know what differences among them
are really recognized by botanists, and what are the correct names of
those which one commonly sees. Having gathered that information, I
propose to impart it, as far as may be consistent with brevity, to my
readers, though I am afraid that to some it will prove a dull business.
The order Coniferæ, from which the yew trees (Taxaceæ) are excluded,
is divided into four families. These are: (1) the family Abietinæ,
which comprises the true pines, and fir trees, and the cedars; (2)
the family Araucarianæ, which includes the Monkey puzzle of South
America and Australia, and the Dammar tree of New Zealand; (3) the
family Taxodinæ, which is best known by the so-called Wellingtonia, or
Sequoia, but includes several other genera and species; and (4) the
family Cupressinæ, in which the juniper, cypress, and "arbor vitæ," or
Thuya, are placed.
The form and size of the frequently needle-like leaves of coniferæ are
not of so much importance in indicating the affinities of these plants
as one might expect, although their grouping either in tufts or in rows
is a matter of significance. In some of them the "needles," or leaves,
are long and narrow (Abietinæ); in others they are broad and leaf-like
(Araucarianæ); in others they are all or most of them reduced to mere
ridges or short scales set quite closely to the leaf-bearing branch
(many Cupressinæ and Taxodinæ). It is not possible to give, without
going into botanical minutiæ, the items of structure by which the four
families of conifers are distinguished from one another. It is best for
the nature-lover who is not an adept in botanical details to think of
them as grouped each round one well-known species. Thus the Abietinæ
are grouped round the spruce pine, the Araucarianæ round the monkey
puzzle, the Taxodinæ round the Wellingtonia, and the Cupressinæ round
the juniper. In all but the last family the ovule-bearing scales of the
female cone are arranged spiral-wise around a central supporting stem;
in Cupressinæ they are few in number, very thick, and opposite to one
another so as to form a globular rather than a cone-shaped body. In
all but a few Cupressinæ and Araucarianæ the male and female cones are
carried on the same tree, sometimes on separate branches, but usually
on the same branch. The male and female cones are always distinct, and
the female much the larger and more enduring.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.--A thin slice across one of the foliage needles
of the Common Spruce. Highly magnified. _r_, The single resin canal;
_f_, the mid-rib, with a single bundle of fibres and vessels cut
across.--(From Veitch.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 34.--A thin slice across one of the foliage needles
of the Silver Fir. Highly magnified. It is flatter than the similar
slice of the needle of the spruce. _r_, _r_, The _two_ resin canals;
_f_, the mid-rib, in which _two_ bundles of fibres and vessels can be
distinguished.--(From Veitch.)]
The Abietinæ are divided into three tribes--(_a_) the spruces and
silver firs (this group corresponding to the French _Sapins_), (_b_)
the larches and cedars, (_c_) the Scots firs (_Pins_ of the French).
Let us take first the group of spruces and silver firs. The Norwegian
spruce is the type of the genus Picea. It is called _Pesse_ by the
French, _Fichte_ by the Germans, and Picea excelsa by botanists. We
may contrast it with the silver fir Abies pectinata (_Sapin des Vosges_
of the French, _Silbertanne_ of the Germans), which we take as the
type of the genus Abies. In many respects the silver fir looks like
the spruce. In both the stem is straight, reaching a height of 100 to
150 feet, regularly furnished with tiers of branches from the ground
upwards. The leaves are needles, half an inch to an inch long, which
stand out from the branchlets, but in the spruce they are quadrangular,
green all over, and arise all round the branch, whilst in the silver
fir they are flat, grooved on the lower surface, which is silver-grey
in colour, and they tend to be disposed right and left in two rows.
Each needle has a single resin canal in the spruce, but has two in
the silver fir, as may be easily seen by cutting the needles across
the length with a sharp knife (Figs. 33 and 34). Each scale-like
ovule-producing leaf which goes to build up the ripe seed-bearing
cone has (as in all conifers theoretically) an outer scale, called a
"bract," attached to it which is very short and hidden in the case of
the spruce cone, but is longer than the ovuliferous scale, and very
obvious in the silver fir (Fig. 35). It has a triangular re-curved
point, which gives the cones of that species a characteristic
appearance (Fig. 36). The cones of the silver fir (5 to 6 inches long
and 2 inches thick) are set upright on the branches, and when they have
shed the seeds the scales fall off rapidly and leave the axis bare,
whilst the cones of the spruce (about an inch shorter) are pendulous
(Fig. 37), and their scales remain in position after the seed is shed.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--The upright spine-bearing cone of the Silver
Fir, Abies pectinata. The cones vary from this size to one-third as
long again. (Copied from Veitch's "Manual of the Coniferæ," by kind
permission of Messrs. Veitch.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--a, Structure of the female cone of the Silver
Fir. A single cone-scale, OVS, with its reflected and pointed "bract,"
br, seen from the outer surface; st, stalk.
b, The same seen from the inner surface; letters as before, and in
addition OV, one of the pair of naked seeds; W, its wing.
c, The same in section, showing well the reflected or turned-over
spine-like end of the bract; letters as before.
d, One of the winged seeds detached.]
There are many "spruces," other species of the genus Picea, from
various parts of Europe, temperate Asia, and North America, which are
cultivated in English parks and gardens. Such are the American white
and red and black spruces, the Siberian, the Oriental, the Servian, and
the tiger's-tail Japanese spruce. Then there is the beautiful variety
of the blue American spruce, Picea pungens. The blue-grey colour of the
needles is frequently obtained as a "variety" in the cultivation of
different species of conifers, as also is the yellow, or golden-leaved,
condition.
[Illustration: FIG. 37.
A, The female cone of the Common Spruce, Picea excelsa. Half the
natural size (linear measurement). It hangs from its attachment instead
of standing up as does the cone of the silver fir.
B, Ripe cone-scale of the Common Spruce, detached and seen from the
inner face, so as to show the two winged seeds. Enlarged.]
In the genus Abies, associated with the silver fir, are a whole series
of American, Siberian, and Japanese species. An interesting one is
the Californian Abies bracteata, which has thornlike processes on the
cone 2 inches in length, corresponding to the re-curved spines on the
cone of the silver fir. It was introduced into England in 1853, and
specimens are growing in Eastnor Park, near Ledbury. The beautiful
_pinsapo_ of the Spanish Sierra Nevada also belongs to the genus
Abies, and may be seen in some English plantations. The Tsuga firs of
Japan and North America are related to Abies, but are now placed in a
separate genus (Tsuga), as also is the Douglas fir of North America
(Pseudotsuga), which has been extensively planted in Great Britain.
The Douglas fir is readily recognized by the decorative trifid outer
scales or "bracts" of the rather short cone (Fig. 42). When freshly
grown these cones have beautiful purple tints mingled with pale green.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FIG. 40.--Female Cone of the Monterey Pine of California
(Pinus insignis). Of the natural size, but somewhat larger specimens
are frequent. The characteristic three foliage needles in a bunch,
in place of two or five distinctive of some other species of Pinus,
are shown in the drawing on the left.--(From Veitch's "Manual of
Coniferæ.")]
Wide tracts of sandy moorland in the south of England have been in
the last century extensively planted with various species of Pinus,
and afford the naturalist an interesting opportunity for comparing
one with another. At Bournemouth the plantations are chiefly of the
Austrian variety of Pinus Laricio,[15] the Scots P. sylvestris, and
the Mediterranean Pinaster. The latter is especially luxuriant there.
Here and there I have found other species at Bournemouth. A remarkable
one with three needles in a group is the Californian Pinus insignis
(Fig. 40), known as the Monterey pine. It has a very large cone which
is curiously one-sided in growth, the seed-scales on the side facing
away from the supporting branch being larger than those on the opposite
face. Another interesting species to be met with there is the Pinus
muricata, also a Californian sea-coast species. The cones of this
species are about 3 inches long and half that in breadth. In all
the species of Pinus the outer end of the scales which build up the
cone is swollen and squeezed compactly by its fellows, forming a hard
shield-like surface of a lozenge shape, in the middle of which is a
knob or process (see Figs. 31, 39, and 40). Usually this is short and
not very sharp, but in Pinus muricata the cone is very hard and solid
and the knob is elongated into a spine of nearly one-third of an inch
long (Fig. 41). Theses pines are so hard and sharp that they render it
impossible to grasp the cone with the hand in order to pluck it. The
cones remain on the tree for fifteen years or more, and may be seen
in close-set clusters surrounding quite old branches. The cones of
Pinus rigida--one of the American pitch-pines--are similarly protected
by spines. Pinus rigida is easily distinguished by its having its
needles in bundles of three from Pinus muricata, which has the more
usual arrangement of a pair of needles to each bundle. The Douglas
fir is also to be found here and there in the gardens and parks of
Bournemouth. Its cones (Fig. 42) are remarkable for their beautiful
purple and pale green tints when young, and for the long trifid bract
on the outside of each scale, similar to but larger than those on the
cone-scales of the silver fir, Abies pectinata (Fig. 35), and not bent
backwards as they are.
[15] A fine specimen is growing near the main entrance of Kew Gardens.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--Female Cone of Pinus muricata, showing the
long sharp spines which stand up from the boss or umbo in the centre of
the swollen, woody, lozenge-shaped end or "apex" of each seed-scale.
Compare these with the un-armed bosses in the centre of each lozenge
building up the surface of the cones drawn in Figs. 31, 39, and 40.]
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--Female Cone of the Douglas Fir of North-West
America (Oregon and Vancouver), Pseudotsuga Douglasii. Of the natural
size.--(From Veitch.)]
There are two pine trees of the genus Pinus which one comes across,
either in English plantations or on the Continent, and are readily
distinguished by having the leaves (needles) in bundles of five. The
first of these is the Arolla pine--Pinus Cembra (French, _cembrot_)--a
pine tree much like the Scots fir in general appearance, but
distinguishable from it, not only by the tufts of five needles in a
bunch instead of two, but also by the erect cones which are nearly as
broad as long (3 in. by 2 in.). It is essentially a Siberian tree, and
grows in Europe only on the Carpathian Mountains and the Alps. I have
seen it in the neighbourhood of the Rhone Valley in Switzerland, but it
is yearly becoming rarer owing to its destruction at the great heights
(4000 to 6000 feet), where it formerly flourished, by the herdsmen in
order to extend the pasturage for their milk industry. The other pine
with five leaves in a tuft, which one may often see, is the Weymouth
pine--Pinus Strobus. It is a native of the New England States and
Canada, where it is known as the white pine, and is greatly valued as a
timber tree. It was introduced and planted in England by Lord Weymouth
at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and is a very handsome
tree, growing to 120 feet in height, with a bluish-green colour of the
foliage like that of the Scots fir. The needles are 3 to 4 inches long,
and the cones pendulous, 5 to 6 inches long and blunt. Another pine of
the five-leaved group is to be seen in gardens in the South of Europe
(for instance at Baveno on the Lago Maggiore), where it is introduced
from Mexico. This is the Pinus Montezumæ, which has extraordinarily
long tufts of needles of a blue-green colour, each needle from 7 to
10 inches long, arranged as radiating or fan-like growths of great
beauty and striking appearance. The Bohtan pine of the Himalayas (Pinus
excelsa--not to be confused with Picea excelsa, the spruce) is also a
five-leaved species. Several specimens of it are flourishing in Kew
Gardens.
A few lines must be given to the Araucarianæ, Taxodinæ, and Cupressinæ.
The Araucarianæ include, besides the Chilian monkey puzzle, an
Australian species, and the New Zealand Dammar pine Agathis, which
produces the amber-like Kauri gum. The leaves of the monkey puzzle are
like the scales of a spruce cone in shape, and the ordinary branches
are like elongated green spruce-cones, whilst the seed-cones have
needle-like scales. The next family, the Taxodinæ, are in many respects
intermediate in character, between the Abietinæ (true pines, cedars,
and firs) and the Cupressinæ (cypresses and junipers). They have very
small, lance-shaped leaves, closely packed, so as to overlap one
another--as in the celebrated Wellingtonia or American Big-tree--and
small cones, with hard, knob-like scales, resembling those of the most
woody-coned Pinus, but few in number. The American Big-tree (native on
the western slopes of the Californian Sierra Nevada) is named "Sequoia
gigantea" by the botanists. It was introduced into England about sixty
years ago. The Red-wood, of the Pacific coast of the United States,
is another species of Sequoia (S. sempervirens), and it appears that
a specimen of it has been measured as reaching 340 feet in height;
whilst no living specimen of the S. gigantea has been definitely
measured of more than 325 feet in height. There are several other
large exotic, pine-like trees, which are placed in the Taxodinæ. The
extraordinary and interesting tree called the Japanese umbrella pine
(Sciadopitys verticillata) is associated with the Sequoias by some
botanists; but it is in important respects unlike any other conifer.
It has a very peculiar foliage, namely, rod-like leaflets, twenty to
thirty in number, arranged in circlets or whorls like the spokes or
ribs of an umbrella. The curious thing is that these are not "leaves,"
but, according to botanists, are leaf-like shoots or branchlets! It may
be seen growing in Kew Gardens, where it was introduced thirty years
ago.
The last family of the Coniferæ is the Cupressinæ, so named after
the great and beautiful cypress tree, which is said to have given
its name to the island of Cyprus, which in turn gives its name to
cupreous metal, or copper. The cypress tree similarly gives its name
to "coffers" and "coffins" made of its wood, as the Buxus or box-tree
has given its name to a "box." The cypress is the Gopher tree of the
Hebrews. The family includes many species of junipers (Juniperus) and
the American and Japanese Arbor vitæ (Thuya) and its allies. In the
common cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) the leaves are singular, small,
scale-like growths, which are flattened on to the delicate branchlets
which bear them. In other trees of the family both such leaves and also
upstanding lancet-like leaves are present. The main character is the
small size and globular shape of the cones and the very few swollen
scales, more like solid wedges adherent to one another, which build
them up. These wedge-like scales are not arranged in whorls, but are
opposite to one another on the short axis or stem of the cone. The
common juniper (Juniperus communis), the _génévrier_ of the French,
grows abundantly on the chalk downs of the South of England, where
it appears as a small bush, not exceeding 5 feet in height, but in
favourable conditions reaches a height of 20 feet. The cones of the
juniper are numerous, and each consists of only three ovuliferous
scales, and is only one-fifth of an inch in diameter when ripe, and of
a blackish violet colour.
At the close of this compressed survey of the order Coniferæ, let me
put the chief forms and groups at which we have looked in a tabular
form, thus:
=Order CONIFERÆ:=
_FAMILY_ 1.--ABIETINÆ.
SECTION A.--SAPINEÆ (SPRUCES AND SILVER FIRS).
_Genus_ 1.--Picea. 2. Tsuga. 3. Pseudotsuga. 4. Abies.
SECTION B.--LARICEÆ (LARCHES AND CEDARS).
_Genus_ 1.--Larix. 2. Cedrus.