FLORA OF NORTHERN UNITED STATES, CANADA, ETC. 



201 



Bentbam's Illustrated Handbook, which seems to have suggested it. 

 But in certain small points an advance upon the model is to be 

 commended : thus Prof. Britton gives a reference to both place and 

 date of publication of every name cited — an immense convenience, 

 which we have always hoped to see adopted by the writers of our 

 British floras ; and the comma which English and American botanists 

 usually insert between the name and the authority has disappeared. 

 The descriptions are short but clear ; there is a certain amount of 

 synonymy ; and the illustrations, if not as good as Fitch's, are very 

 helpful. As, by Prof. Britton's kindness, we are able to give examples 

 of these, we print with them the accompanying text, and thus enable 

 our readers to see how the book is arranged. 



"Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. Balsam Fir. 



Finns bahamea L. Sp. PI. 1002. 1753. 



Abies balsamea Mill. Gard. Diet. Ed. 8, No. 3. 1768. 



A slender forest tree attaining a maximum height of about 90° 

 and a trunk diameter of 3^ usually much smaller and on mountain 

 tops and in high arctic regions reduced to a low shrub. Bark smooth, 

 warty with resin 'blis- 

 ters.' Leaves fragrant 

 in drying, less than 1" 

 wide, 6''-10" long, ob- 

 tuse, dark green above, 

 paler beneath, or the 

 youngest conspicuously 

 whitened on the lower 

 surface ; cones cylindric, 

 2'-4'long,9"-15" thick, 

 upright, arranged in 

 rows on the upper side 

 of the branches, violet 

 or purplish when young ; 

 bracts obovate, serru- 

 late, mucronate, shorter 

 than the broad rouuded 

 scales. 



Newfoundland and 

 Labrador to Hudson Bay 

 and the North-west Ter- 

 ritory, south to Massa- 

 chusetts, Pennsylvania, 

 along the Alleghenies to 



Virginia, and to Michigan and Minnesota. Ascends to 5000 ft. in 

 the Adirondacks. Wood soft and weak, light brown ; weight per 

 cubic foot 24 lbs. Canada balsam is derived from the resinous 

 exudations of the trunk. May- June." 



"Lilium Canadense L. Wild Yellow Lily. Canada Lily. 

 Lilium Canadense L. Sp. PI. 303. 1753. 



Bulbs subglobose, l'-2' in diameter, borne on a stout rootstock, 

 composed of numerous thick white scales. Stem 2°-o= tall, slender 



