Draft manuscript entitled 'Pinus' by David Douglas
Information
Title - Draft manuscript entitled 'Pinus' by David Douglas
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/5/2/3/1
Date - c.1827-1829
Scope & content - Draft manuscript descriptions of the genus Pinus, on North American pines
Overview of contents:
Pages 1-13: Pinus douglasii [Pseudotsuga menziesii]
Pages 15-17: Pinus menziesii [Picea sitchensis]
Pages 19-21: Pinus nobilis [Abies procera]
Pages 23-25: Pinus amabile [Abies amabilis]
Pages 27-29: Pinus monticola
Pages 31-37: Pinus ponderosa
Pages 39-41: Pinus contorta
Page 43: Pinus banksiana or Pinus rupestris [Pinus banksiana]
Page 43a: Pinus rigida or Pinus taeda rigida
Page 43b: Pinus microcarpa or Pinus laricina [Larix laricina]
Page 45: Pinus pendula [Abies pendula]
Page 45a: Pinus alba [Picea glauca]
Page 45b: Pinus rubra [?Pinus sylvestris, Pinus resinosa or Picea rubens]
Page 45c: Pinus nigra
Page 45d: Pinus canadensis [Tsuga canadensis]
Page 45e: Pinus balsamea [Abies balsamea]
Page 45f: Pinus lambertiana
Physical description: Unbound manuscript enclosed in a paper cover, with loose leaves of various sizes and 'Appendix 7' written on the cover in pencil. There are holes in the upper left-hand corners from previous fastening. Some of the edges are torn
The pages are written in David Douglas's hand. There are pencil annotations in a later hand, probably by the 1914 editors of Douglas's journals, numbering the descriptions, and occasional references to Douglas's journal and comparisons with the other copy of the text
The leaves are foliated in pencil in the lower right-hand corner of rectos. The leaves were paginated on the upper right-hand corner of rectos during cataloguing
For another version of the manuscript, c.1827-1829, see RHS/Col/5/2/3/2
The additional leaves (numbered 43a-b, 45a-f) contain brief descriptions of pines in Douglas's hand, but are not part of the original manuscript
Summary of contents:
Descriptions of pines, with details of their habitat, characteristics, uses and references to other sources and authorities
The text begins (page 1): 'P. douglasii [Pseudotsuga menziesii], foliis solitariis planis subdistichis, strobilis ovatis pendulis, brecteolis excertis, 3-cuspitatis. Sabine in Tran. Hort. Soc. [Transactions of the Horticultural Society], vol. [the reference here is left blank; it appears that Joseph Sabine intended to publish the manuscript, but did not]. Flowers in April and May, fruit ripe in September. Leaves solitary, flat, entire, imperfectly two-ranked, blunt at the apex, dark shining green above, glaucous underneath, about an inch long'
The text ends (page 45f): '[Pinus lambertiana] [...] Dougl. Linn. Trans. Vol 15, part5 2, p.497 [David Douglas, 'An account of a new species of Pinus, native of California', Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 15, pages 497-500]. Common in northern California between the parallel of 40° and 43°, in dry, barren, sandy soils. Trunks 150 to 200 feet high, varying from 20 to nearly 60 feet circumference. Bark smooth, light brown colour, bleached like on the north side. Cones 12 to 17 inches long, 9 to 11 round, erect the first year, pendulous the second. Seeds ripe in September, eaten by the native tribes on river'
Extent - 1 folder
Repository - Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library
Copyright - Royal Horticultural Society
Credit Line - RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms - Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)