188 PLANT-LIFE 



monly called the " Calif ornian Mammoth Tree," or 

 Wellingtonia ; another is the Red-wood, S. sempervirens. 



In the broad grouping which we have adopted the 

 Abietinese include the Araucarias, Pines, Cedars, Larches, 

 and Firs; but some botanists separate the Araucarias 

 into a distinct group — the Araucariacese, with two 

 genera, Araucaria and Agathis. The fourteen species 

 of the group, well represented by the much-cultivated 

 Monkey-Puzzle, or Chili Pine, Araucaria imbricata, 

 occur in the Southern Hemisphere; they are cone-bearers, 

 the cones being formed of scales in a spiral arrangement. 

 In the female cones a single ovule occurs at the base of 

 each scale. In the Abietinese proper there are two 

 distinguishing features : first, the spiral arrangement of 

 the leaves; second, the division of the carpels into cover 

 scales and ovuliferous scales, the latter bearing two 

 ovules on the upper surface. Picea excelsa, already 

 described (p. 181), is a fair example of the subfamily. 

 The leaves are all needle-like, but are variously arranged 

 in the different genera. The Firs are divided into two 

 genera, both of which are characterized by producing 

 only long shoots with spirally arranged evergreen 

 leaves, as in Picea excelsa. In the genus Picea, the 

 bark of the tree is reddish, and the leaves, seen in trans- 

 verse section, are quadrangular; the cones hang down- 

 wards and the scales persist on the cones until, and even 

 after, the seeds are liberated ; but in the second genus, 

 Abies, represented by the Silver Fir, Abies pectinata, 

 a native of the mountains of South and Middle Europe, 

 and cultivated in Britain, the bark is greyish, the leaves 

 are flat, yet needle-like, and marked with two white 

 lines beneath. The cones sit erect, and as in that posi- 



