PINACEAE. 35 



dehiscent, the connective prolonged into a short knob or point; pollen-grains com- 

 pound. Ovule-bearing aments lateral, erect; ovules 2 on the base of each scale, 

 reflexed, the scale shorter than or exceeding the thin or papery, mucronate or 

 aristate bract. Cones erect, subcylindric or ovoid, their scales deciduous from the 

 persistent axis, orbicular or broader, obtuse. [Ancient name of the firs.] About 

 20 species, natives of the north temperate zone, chiefly in boreal and mountainous 

 regions. Besides the following, some 7 others occur in the western parts of N. Am. 

 and I in Mex. 



Bracts serrulate, mucronate, shorter than the scales ; leaves obtuse. i. A. balsamea. 



Bracts aristate, reflexed, longer than the scales ; leaves mostly emarginate. 



2. A. Fraseri. 



1. Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. BALSAM FIR. (I. F. f. 126.) A slender forest 

 tree attaining a maximum height of about 30 m. and a trunk diameter of I m., 

 usually much smaller and on mountain tops and in high arctic regions reduced to 

 a low shrub. Bark smooth, warty with resin " blisters." Leaves fragrant in dry- 

 ing, less than 2 mm. wide, 12-20 mm. long, obtuse, dark green above, paler 

 beneath or the youngest conspicuously whitened on the lower surface ; cones 

 cylindric, 5-10 cm. long, 2-3 cm. thick, upright, arranged in- rows on the upper 

 side of the branches, violet or purplish when young ; bracts obovate, serrulate, 

 mucronate, shorter than the broad rounded scales. Newf. and Lab. to Hud. Bay 

 and the N. W. Terr., south to Mass., Penn.. along the Alleghenies to Va. and to 

 Mich, and Minn. Canada balsam is derived from the resinous exudations of the 

 trunk. May- June. 



2. Abies Fraseri (Pursh) Lindl. FRASER'S BALSAM FIR. (I. F. f. 127.) A 

 forest tree, similar to the preceding species. Leaves, especially the younger, con- 

 spicuously whitened beneath, 1-2 cm. long, nearly 2 mm. wide, emarginate or 

 some of them obtuse at the apex ; cones oblong-cylindric or ovoid-cylindric, 5-8 cm. 

 high, about 2.5 cm. thick, their scales rhomboid, much broader than high, rounded 

 at the apex, much shorter than the papery bracts, which are reflexed, their summits 

 emarginate, serrulate and aristate. On the high Alleghenies of S. W. Va., N. Car., 

 and Tenn. May. 



6. TAXODIUM L. C. Rich. 



Tall trees with horizontal or drooping branches, and alternate spirally arranged 

 sessile linear or scale-like leaves, deciduous in our species, spreading so as to 

 appear 2 -ranked, some of the twigs commonly deciduous in autumn. Leaf-buds 

 naked. Staminate aments very numerous, globose, in long terminal drooping 

 panicled spikes, appearing before the leaves ; anthers 25 celled, the sacs 2-valved. 

 Ovule-bearing aments ovoid, in small terminal clusters, their scales few, bractless, 

 each bearing a pair of ovules on its base. Cones globose or nearly so, the scales thick 

 and woody, rhomboid, fitting close together by their margins, each marked with a 

 triangular scar at its base. Seeds large, sharply triangular-pyramidal. [Name 

 Greek, referring to the yew-like leaves.] Three known species, the following of 

 S. E. N. Am., i Mexican, i Chinese. 



i. Taxodium distichum (L.) L. C. Rich. BALD CYPRESS. (I. F. f. 128.) 

 A large forest tree, attaining a maximum height of about 50 m. and a trunk di- 

 ameter of nearly 3 m., the old bark flaky in thin strips. Leaves narrowly linear, 

 flat, thin, 1-2 cm. long, I mm. wide, or less, rather light green, acute, those on 

 some of the flowering branches smaller, scale- like; cones globose or slightly longer 

 than thick, pendent at the ends of the branches, very compact, 2-3 cm. in di- 

 ameter; surfaces of the scales irregularly rugose above the inversely triangular 

 scar; seeds 8-10 mm. long. In swamps and along rivers, Del. to Fla., west to 

 Tex., north in the Miss. Valley region to S. Ind., Mo. and Ark. The roots de- 

 velop upright con ; c "knees " sometimes 1.5 m. high and .4 m. thick. March- 

 April. 



7. THUJA L. 



Evergreen, trees or shrubs with frond-like foliage, the leaves small or minute, 

 scale-like, appressed, imbricated, opposite, 4-ranked, those of the ultimate branch- 

 lets mostly obtuse, those of some of the larger twigs acute or subulate. Aments 



