-> 



640 



MONOECIA MONADELPHIA 



glabrous, though pubescent when young 

 s'mooth imbricate scales. 



Cones very small, terminal, witi 



Even when this tree is abundant its" wood is little valued. Its grain is 

 said by Michaux to be irregular and almost spirally contorted, and it decays 

 soon when exposed to the weather. It is therefore ooly used where better 

 timber cannot be procured. Its bark is extensively used for tanning, and is 

 valuable though inferior to the oak. It is generally known as the Heujiock 



Spruce, or Pine, 



In the Southern States this tree is confined to the highest ridges and val- 



lies of the Alleghany Mountains. 

 Flowers April — May. 



11. Nigra. Alton. 



P. 



foliis 



solitariis, 

 tetragoiiis, undiqiie 

 sparsis, erectis, strictis; 

 stiobilis ovatis, squam 



Leaves solitary^ 4- 

 an^led, scaUered on all 



sides, erect, straight; 



cones ovate, scales el- 

 is ellipticis, margine j liptic, undulate along 

 undulatis, apice eroso- the margin, the summit 



denticulatis. 



denticulate. 



Sp. pi. 4. p. 506. Pursh, 2. p. 640. Nutt. 2. p. 223. 



Abies Denticulata, Mich. 2. p. 206. 



Icon. Abies Nigra. Mich, arb. for. 1. p. 123. 



This fir, in favourable situations, also becomes a fine tree, attaining some- 

 times 60—80 feet in height, and 12 —18 inches in diameter, generally form- 

 ing a handsome pyramid at summit. Leaves very numerous, scarcely ex- 

 ceeding half an inch in length, of a very dark green. Cones oval, l-- 

 inches long, growing near the extremities of the small branches, genera y 

 turned towards the earth. Scales imbricate, broad, the margins crenulate 



or divided. 



of 



The tall slender bodies of this tree are extensively used for the spars o 

 vessels, and from its young branches principally the spruce of commerce ii> 

 prepared. In the sphagnous swamps among the Mountains in ^henori - 

 eastern districts of the United States, the fir is very abundant. In the ^^"^"' 

 ern States it is rare, and confined to the high ridges of the Alleghany Moun- 



tarns. 



Flowers April — May. 



■L\ 



12. Alba. Alton. 



P. foliis solitariis te- 

 tragonis, incurvis; stro- 



I! 



Leaves solitary, 



4 



angled, iiicurvedj cones 



_^ 



r 



