SKETCH OF THE CONIFERS OF JAPAN. 505 



cited, drew attention to its Leing very near to Abies Ehutroiv (A. 

 Morinda or Smithiana auct.), but pointed out one or two cha- 

 racters which appeared to him to distinguish them from each other. 

 The idea thus thrown out was adopted by Mr. Gordon in his work 

 called " The Pinetum/' where he gives SiebokVs name A, polita 

 as a synonym of A. Smithiana, and states that that species '* is also 

 found in China and Japan." An examination of the specimens 

 brought home by Mr. Veitch shows that although Can'iere is correct 

 in looking upon them as nearly allied, they are yet perfectly 

 distinct species. Not only is the cone of A. polita (as noticed by 

 Carricre) shorter, more bellied in the middle and attenuated and 

 obtuse at both extremities, and its scale broader and more rounded, 

 but the leaves are as different as two tetragonal leaves can well be. 

 This will be at once evident from a comparison of figs. 137 

 and 134 (which represent the leaf of A. polita) and figs. 138 and 

 139 (which represent that of A. Morinda), That of A. j^olita is 

 short and thick, and has eiglit or ten rows of stomata on every 

 face, as shown in fig, 134; that of A. Morinda is long and thin, 

 although stifi', and has only two or three rows of stomata on 

 the upper faces, and three or four on the lower faces, as shown 

 in fig. 139. The drawing of the leaf of ^. polita (fig. 133) given 

 above, is copied from Siebold's work; but fig. 137 is more accu- 

 rate, and is taken from specimens brought home by Mr. Veitch, 

 and the figure of the leaf of A, Smithiana (fig. 138) is drawn 

 from a normal leaf taken from the old tree at Frogmore, one of 

 the oldest specimens in Britain, that tree having been selected 

 for comparison expressly to escape the chance of error arising 

 from comparing the leaves of a young tree with those of 



an old. 



In the above description we have refrained from repeating the 



statement made by Siebold,that the cones grow stiffly erect at the 



tips of the branches. The position of his figure, copied in fig. 



140, corresponds with this statement, but we cannot help thinking 



that he must be in error on this point. It is contrary to the 



usual habit of the spruce to have their cones growing erect. 



Mr. J. G. Veitch, in his short notice in the Gardeners' 



Chronicle ijoc. cit,), says that it is a large tree, with p^??rf?f7o?/.'5 



green cones, and although he privately informs us that he never 



actually saw the tree growing, he feels convinced of the accuracy 



of his statement from information derived from Japanese sources, 



and from what be himself observed in specimens brought him 



