Trees 67 



midal in outline. The sharp pointed needles, which are 

 inserted singly, are crowded on the upper side of the 

 branches by the twisting of those on the under side, and 

 are light blue-green or bluish in colour. The pendulous 

 cones are oblong and green tinged with red, becoming pale 

 brown and lustrous at maturity. 



ENGELMANN'S SPRUCE 



Picea Engelmanni. Pine Family 



An evergreen tree, fifty to one hundred and fifty feet high, two to 

 five feet in diameter, with spreading branches in regular whorls and 

 pubescent branchlets. Leaves: keeled above and beneath, tretragonal, 

 acute. Flowers: staminate ones dark purple, axillary and terminal 

 on the previous year's branchlets, oblong-cylindrical; pistillate aments 

 bright scarlet, borne at the ends of the branchlets. Fruit: cones pen- 

 dulous, seeds imbedded in the membranous base of the wing. 



Engelmann's Spruce grows between 5,000 and 7,000 feet 

 in the mountains, and is a very disagreeable-smelling tree. 

 It is widely distributed, and has rich cinnamon-coloured 

 bark, and sharp pointed blue-green leaves which are in- 

 serted singly and stand out in all directions from the vigor- 

 ous branches, that grow in whorls round the stem. Many 

 tiny branchlets hang from the main branches. When you 

 take hold of a branch of this tree the leaves feel harsh, and 

 the ends of them will hurt your hand. The drooping cones 

 mature the first year, they are green tinged with reddish- 

 purple, and when mature become a light chestnut brown. 



BALSAM FIR 



Abies lasiocarpa. Pine Family 



An evergreen tree fifty to seventy-five feet high. Leaves: those of 

 the main branches linear, rounded or notched at the apex, those of 

 the branchlets flattened, and with long rigid points. Flowers: the 

 staminate indigo-blue, from the axils of the previous year's leaves ; the 



