24 ox THE PICEA NOBILIS, AXD ITS VALUE FOR 



ON THE PICEA NOBILIS, AND ITS VALUE FOR PLANTING 



IN SCOTLAND. 



By EoBERT Hutchison of Carlowrie, Kirkliston. 

 [Premium — The Medium. Gold Medal.] 



Picea nobilis, Loudon, the Noble Silver Fir. 

 Synonyms — Pinus nobilis, Douglas ; Abies nobilis, Lindley. 



Leaves. — One and three-quarter inches long, solitary, crowded, compressed, 



irregularly two-rowed, linear, falcate, mostly acute, flat, deej^-grecn 



above, and glaucous beneath. 

 Pranches. — Horizontal, spreading, and numerous. 

 Cones. — Solitary, on the upper parts of the top branches, cylindrical, sessile, 



thick, and rather obtuse, from 6 to 7 inches in length, and from 



8 to 9 in circumference, with large, incurved, stipulate, and entire 



scales. 

 Practeas. — Large, projecting, reflexed, imbricated, spathulate, with terminal, 



awl-shaped ])oints. 

 Seeds. — Ol^hnig, small, with a coriaceous testa, and broad, pale-coloured 



wings, 1 J inch in length, and f of an inch broad at the widest part. 



A magnificent tree, attaining 200 feet in height, and forming vast forests 

 of imposing grandeur in its native habitats on the mountain ranges of 

 Northern California, and along the banks of the Columbia River, where 

 Jeffrey found it 200 feet high, and 4 feet in diameter, at an altitude of 6000 

 to 8000 feet, in red loamy soil. It is called by the Indians " Tuc-tuc" (which 

 means literally " the big tree"), in allusion to its immense size. 



This conifer, so appropriately designated tlio Noble Silver Fir, 

 was first introduced into this country in 1831. It was discovered 

 by Douglas, and in the many stately specimens which are now 

 beginning to arrest the attention of arboriculturists in Britain, 

 and in the rapidly extending area of its plantation, we find a 

 fitting testimonial to the memory of its lamented discoverer, and 

 an additional proof, if necessary, of the obligations under which 

 all interested in tree culture feel they are laid to his untiring- 

 zeal and sagacity. In its native habitats in a country so fertile 

 in magnificent large trees, — of whose gigantic proportions we can 

 form a very inadequate conception in this country, — it is said to 

 form a most imposing sight, not only because of its immense 

 height and bulk, but also on account of its symmetrical habit 

 even when old, its deep, rich-green foliage, and remarkably large 

 and erect cones, and its beautiful cinnamon-coloured bark. 

 Altogether, the Ficea nohilis, — whether in its own country or in 

 Britain, and whether as a small specimen or as a tall forest tree, 

 — is doubtless one of the most striking and niajestic species of 

 the coniferous order. Douglas himself writes of it on 11th 

 October 1830, in sending home the first seeds to enrich the sylva 

 of his native country, from the entrance to the river Columbia : 

 — " This singular species is a majestic tree forming vast forests 



