stone-pine
[= F. pin de pierre; cf. also G. steinpinie (in some Dicts.). The reason for the name is obscure; it has been supposed to refer to the hardness of the seeds.]
A species of pine-tree, Pinus Pinea, a native of Southern Europe and the Levant, with edible seeds. Also applied to other species, as P. Cembra (Swiss Stone-pine).
| 1759 P. Miller Gard. Dict. (ed. 7) s.v. Pinus, The cultivated Pine Tree, commonly called the Stone Pine. 1785 Martyn Lett. Bot. xxviii. 444 The Stone-Pine has also double leaves. 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 229 [The seeds] of the Stone Pine of Europe, Pinus Pinea,..[and of] Pinus Cembra, Pinus Lambertiana..are all eatable when fresh. 1887 G. Nicholson Dict. Gard. s.v. Pinus, P. Cembra. Swiss Stone Pine. |
| attrib. 1822 Hortus Angl. II. 498 P[inus] Pinea. Stone Pine Tree. 1874 Stewart & Brandis Flora N. West India 516 The celebrated Stone Pine forest..near Ravenna. 1875 Kingston tr. Jules Verne's Abandoned vii. (1880) 90 [The monkey] ate with relish some stone pine almonds. |