48 UOTANICAL SURVEY OF THE CCEUR D'ALENE MOUNTAINS. 



The wood, which is soft, white, free from resin, and quite durable, has 

 a great number of small black knots embedded in it. It is occasionally 

 sawed into lumber, and would be used much more extensively were it 

 easier of access. There is less sap in the tree than in most of the other 

 conifers of the Coarr d'Alene forest, and for this reason it is fit for lum- 

 ber at an earlier period. Xo especial distinction exists in color or dura- 

 bility between the sap and heartwood. The species is often confounded 

 with the iirs. It may be readily known and distinguished from any of 

 the firs of this region by the thin, scaly, reddish bark of the mature 

 tree, pungently pointed leaves, long, sloping branches, and pendulous 

 cones. Our firs all have upright cones. The hemlocks, which have the 

 mature cones pendulous, differ so much in general appearance that they 

 are not apt to be mistaken for this spruce by anybody. 



WHITE FIR. 



Abies concolor (Gordon) Tarry. 



A tree found pretty much everywhere in the Cceur d'Alenes. It 

 ranges from the lowest levels, where it is always associated with the 

 yellow and black pines and the red fir, to elevations of 1,500 meters 

 (5,000 feet), and on the southern slopes of the ridges may go consider- 

 ably higher. It is equally at home in the wet bottoms of the valleys 

 or on the well-drained slopes of the ridges. On the northern faces of 

 the mountains the young growth frequently forms the densest of thick- 

 ets, not to be penetrated except by a liberal use of the ax. There are 

 two varieties of the species, but not at all distinct botauically. One of 

 these forms is of low stature, seldom exceeding 15 to 20 meters (50 to 

 70 feet) in height, and 30 to 35 cm. (12 to 14 inches) in diameter. The 

 branches are long and sloping, and begin Iron; near the base. The 

 wood is soft, spongy, and worthless. It soon decays at the root, and, 

 outside the burned-over areas, furnishes the largest percentage of the 

 woody debris that litters the Occur d'Alene forests. The other form 

 grows very large. Trees with a height of "GO to 70 meters (100 to 220 

 feet) and a diameter of 1.4 meters (4.0 feet) are often found. The proper 

 crown is about one-half of the total length of the tree, and the branches 

 are very short and few, diverging at right angles. This form is much 

 less common than the one previously mentioned. It inhabits localities 

 more plentifully supplied with moisture, and ranges to quite as high 

 an elevation as the other. It is sometimes sawed into lumber, and is 

 said to produce a fair article. The smaller form is not utilized for any 

 purpose. It is probable that it would make excellent paper stock. 

 Both forms produce cones rarely and but few at a time. 1 have never 

 seen more than two cone-bearing individuals of the larger variety. 



