2320 



ARBOUIVIUM AND FKUTICETUM. PA 111 III 



2-231 



of A. D. ^axifolia in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden is 8 ft. high, di- 

 ameter of the head 4 ft. 6 in., and of the trunk 3 in. The tree 

 of A. Douglasii in the Caledonian Horticultural Society's Garden 

 Mr. M'Nab describes as a large bush, with a very weak leading 

 shoot, 8 ft. high, diameter of the head 10 ft., and of the trunk 4 in. 

 Description, (^c. A large conical tree, with a rugged greyish brown bark, 

 from 6 in. to 9 in. thick, and abounding in balsamic resin. Leaves somewhat 

 pectinate and spreading, narrow-linear, obtuse on the margin and apex, quite 

 entire, flat ; dark green above, marked on the middle with a depressed line, 

 and silvery beneath ; 1 in. long. Male catkins short, dense, obtuse, scarcely 

 iin. long. Bracteas scarious, concave, very obtuse, ciliate and torn on the 

 margin. Anthers obcordate, very short, 2-celled; crest very short, obtuse, 

 thick, tubercle-like. Cones terminal on the apex of the branches, solitary, 

 pendulous, ovate-oblong, bright brown, with many linear acuminate bracteas 

 at the base ; scales roundish, concave, coriaceous, quite entire, persistent, 

 smooth. Bracteoles linear, tricuspidate, cartilaginous and membranaceous, 

 twice as long as the scales; teeth acuminate, middle one by nuich the longest. 

 Seeds oval; testa crustaceous ; wing elliptic, obtuse, chestnut brown, slightly 

 convex on the exterior margin. (Lamh., Pcnn. Cyc, ami obs.) According to 

 Douglas.the trunks of this species, in the forests of the north-west of Ame- 

 rica, varvfrom 2 ft. to 10 ft. in diameter, and from 100 ft. to 180 ft. in height. 

 Occasionally, the tree arrives at still greater dimensions ; as a proof of which, 

 Douglas mentions a stump which still exists near Fort George, on the 

 Columbia river, which, exclusive of the bark, and at 3 ft. from the ground, 

 measured 48 ft. in circumference. The bark in young trees has its recepta- 

 cles filled with a clear yellow resin, in the same manner as that of the balm 

 of Gilead ; and the bark of old trees is said to make excellent fuel. The 

 timber is heavy, firm, with few knots, about the same yellow colour as that of 

 the yew, and not in the least liable to warp. The rate of growth of this tree, 

 in the climate of London, appears to be nearly as great as that of the connnon 

 s[)ruce; but, as it has a tendency to send out a profusion of side branches, 

 it does not increase in height so much as it does in width and bushiness. 

 It often protrudes two growths in a season, but often, also, sends uj) contend- 

 ing leading shoots. When this is not the case, the terminal shoot of the 

 season, under favourable circumstances, in a tree 6 ft. high, is from I ft. 3 in. to 

 1 ft. 8 in. in a year. The tallest specimen in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 London is in the Horticultural Society's Garden; where, in 1837, 10 years 

 li-om the seed, it was 10 ft. high. A plant at Dropmore, of the same age, was, 

 in August, 1837, 19 ft. high, and bearing several cones. 



drofiraphy, Il'islorij, Sfc. J'bies Douglasij is found in immense forests in 

 north-west America, from 4.3^ to 52°. N. lat. It was originally discovered 

 by Mr. Menzies, at Nootka Sound, when he touched at that coast during his 

 voyage round the world with Captain Vancouver, in 1797 ; and, from a speci- 

 men without flowers or cones, a figure was published by Mr. Lambert, under 



