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Pines — Part 14

Himalayan Pines, two in number, both large trees at home, are cultivated here. Their other points of beauty are all secondary to the charm of their long, drooping leaves. The Bhotan Pine, P. excelsa, has blue-green leaves, 6 to 8 inches long, and cylindrical stalked cones of about equal length. It is hardy to the neighbourhood of Boston. P. longifolia is a tender species cultivated in California. Its leaves are pale green, 8 to 12 inches long, slender and pendulous. No more beautiful pine can be imagined than a young and vigorous Himalayan longleaf with the wind playing among its drooping leaf clusters.

The Mexican White Pine (P. Ayacahuite), a near relative of our Northern white pine, and resembling the Himalayan species in the pendulous leaf habit, is unknown to any but a few specialists. But it is sure to be recognised and widely planted where it is hardy. The tree is graceful and symmetrical, its whorls of slender branches held well apart and horizontal. The droop is in the leaves themselves, pale green, bluish and 4 to 6 inches long. The handsome cones are 9 to 15 inches long, tapering, often curved, and brownish yellow. Though not counted hardy in the North, this Mexican species grows behind the protecting Scotch pines on Mr. Dana's place, Dosoris, on Long Island.

The Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata) is a Japanese conifer, a beautiful conical evergreen, whose glossy green leaves are needle-like, 3 to 6 inches long, and set in umbrella-like whorls of 15 to 35 leaves at the ends of all the twigs. The tree is a puzzle to botanists and a delight to horticulturists. It is hardy to Portland, Maine, grows slowly, but is thrifty in many soils, and is strikingly decorative at any age. A dwarf variety and one with variegated foliage are offered by dealers. The normal type of this species grows to the height of 100 feet, losing gradually its compact, spire-like form, its limbs becoming pendulous and more spreading.