186 Postelsia 
couver Island, but as it occurs in the coast ranges 
of the mainland and in the Olympic Mountains, 
it will almost certainly be found on the high 
mountains of the interior of the island. It is 
an alpine tree, growing with Picea Engelmanni 
and Tsuga Mertensiana. It has usually a re- 
markably narrow, spire-like form, but near 
timber line it is frequently reduced to a matted 
shrub less than a meter high. 
Abies grandis Lindley. Penny Cycl. 1:30. 
1833. White Fir. 
A tall, somewhat slender tree with leaves 
dark glossy green above, silvery white beneath, 
two-ranked and somewhat remote on. sterile 
lateral branches, more crowded on leading 
shoots and fertile branches, rounded, notched, 
or sometimes pointed at the apex, 2-5 centimeters 
long; cones cylindrical, 5-8 centimeters long, 
2.5-4 centimeters thick; cone-scales thick, two 
to three times as long as the obcordate, laciniate, 
abruptly mucronate bracts; seeds about 1 centi- 
meter long, with wide wings about 1.5 centi- 
meters long. Along the coast from Vancouver 
Island to northern California, eastward to 
Montana. 
