GENUS ABIES. 3 



ABIES (Linnceus). 

 THE SILVER FIRS. 



Pre-Linnean botanists distinguished the genera Picea and 

 Abies, placing the spruce in the former and the silver fir in the 

 latter genus. Linnaeus, however, reversed the terms, and the 

 confusion in botanical nomenclature has continued to the 

 present time. In accordance with the universally adopted 

 plan of Bentham and Hooker, the silver firs are here in- 

 cluded under Abies, and the spruces under Picea. 



Flowers monoecious ; male catkins scattered, axillary or 

 terminal. 



Cones erect, cylindrical or nearly so, maturing the first year. 



Scales deciduous, falling off when ripe from the persistent 

 cone-axil. 



Bracts free from the scales except at their base, and 

 longer or shorter than these. 



Seeds somewhat triangular, with a large usually wedge- 

 shaped inseparable wing. 



Cotyledons leafy, entire, flat, and from four to eight in 

 number. 



Leaves flat, solitary, more or less in two rows, silvery below, 

 leaving a circular indentation on the branch when they fall. 



Abaes amabilis, Forbes. Red Fir. {^Synonyms: — 

 Pinus amabilis, Douglas ; P. graudis, Lambert ; Picea 

 atnabilis, Loudon ; Abies graudis, Murray ; A. graudis 

 densijlora, Engelmann ; A. magnifica of some gardens.) 

 Fraser River Valley to Oregon. 1831. — This handsome 

 tree is by no means common in the British Isles, 

 probably owing to the confusion which until recently 

 existed respecting the identity and nomenclature of this and 

 others of the North American firs. As an ornamental 

 tree it is second to no other conifer, the easily-arranged 

 semi-decumbent branches with the flattish shoots given off 



