492 CONIFERS, (pine family.) 



oblong ( 10 - 20" long), inostli/ recurved, persistent, the 7'igid scales with a thin den- 

 ticulate edge. (Abies nigra, Poir.) — Swamps and cold mountain woods, New 

 Eng. to Penn., central Mich., Minn., and northward, and south in the moun- 

 tains to Ga. A tree 40-70° high. — Var. rubra, Engelm. Leaves larger 

 and darker; cones larger, bright red-brown, more readily deciduous. 



2. P. alba, Link. (White Spruce.) Branchlets glabrous ; leaves more 

 slender, pale or glaucous; cones nodding, cijlindricai (about 2' long), pale, de^ 

 ciduous, the thinner scales with an entire edge. (Abies alba, Michx.)^ 

 Northern New Eng. and N. Y. to L. Superior, aud northward. — A hand- 

 somer tree than n. 1, 50-150° high, in aspect more like a Balsam Fir. 



3. TSUGA, Carriere. Hemlock. 



Sterile flowers a subglobose cluster of stamens, from the axils of last year's 

 leaves, the long stipe surrounded by numerous bud-scales ; anthers tipped with 

 a short spur or knob, their confluent cells opening transversely ; pollen-grains 

 simple. Fertile catkins and cones on the end of last year's branchlets ; cones 

 maturing the first year, pendulous ; their scales thin, persistent. Leaves scat- 

 tered, flat, whitened beneath, appearing 2-rauked. (The Japanese name of 

 one of the species.) 



1. T. Canadensis, Carr. Leaves petioled, short-linear, obtuse (|' long) ; 

 cones oval (6 - 8" long), of few thin scales much longer than the bracts. (Abies 

 Canadensis, Michx.) — Mostly hilly or rocky Avoods, N. Scotia to Del., and along 

 the mountains to Ala., west to Mich, aud Minn. — A tall tree, with light and 

 spreading spray and delicate foliage, bright green above, silvery beneath. 



4. ABIES, Link. Fir. 



Sterile flowers from the axils of last year's leaves ; anthers tipped with a 

 knob, their cells bursting transversely ; pollen as in Pinus. Fertile catkins 

 and cones erect on the upper side of spreading branches ; cones maturing the 

 first year ; their thin scales and mostly exserted bracts deciduous at maturity 

 Seeds and bark with balsam-bearing vesicles. Leaves scattered, sessile, flat, 

 with the midrib prominent on the Avhitened lower surface, on horizontal 

 branches appearing 2-ranked. (The classical Latin name.) 



1. A. balsamea, Miller. (Balsam or Balm-of-Gilead Fir.) Leaves 

 narrowly linear (6-10" long) ; cones cijlindriccd (2-4' long, V thick), violet- 

 colored ; tlie bracts obovate, serrulate, tipped with an abrupt slender point, shorter 

 than the sccdes. — Damp woods and mountain swamps, Xewf. to Penn., along 

 the mountains to Ya., west to Minn., and northward. A slender tree or at 

 high elevations a low or prostrate shrub. 



5. LARIX, Tourn. Larch. 



Catkins lateral, terminating short spurs on branches of a year's growth or 

 more, short or globular, developed in early spring; the sterile from leafless 

 buds ; the fertile mostly with leaves below. Anther-cells opening transversely. 

 Pollen-grains simple, globular. Cones as in Spruce, the scales persistent. — 

 Leaves needle-shaped, soft, deciduous, all foliaceous, very many in a fascicle 

 developed in early spring from lateral scaly and globular buds, and scattered 

 along the developed shoots of the season. Fertile catkins crimson or red in 

 flower. (The ancient name.) 



