NOTES ON THE WEST AMERICAN CONIFERZ. 51 
I have grouped as White-barked Firs—while it closely resem- 
bles that of the Hemlock Spruce in other respects. To 
particularize: (a) the leaves of Douglas Spruce are like those 
of the firs in that they have two longitudinal resin ducts,— 
so also have the leaves of Hemlock Spruce; (b) they are 
distichous, flat and twisted at base on the lower branches, as 
upon those of the White-barked Firs, and also upon those of 
the Hemlock Spruces; (c) they are distinctly petiolate— 
unlike the whole family of Firs, whose leaves are all sessile— 
while those of Hemlock Spruce and of Western Spruce are 
petioled, and the leaves of Picea have analogous leaf-bases; 
(3) the male flowers of Pseudotsuga as stated, are like those 
of Picea, but they have conspicuous spurred commissures to 
the stamens, like those of Hemlock Spruce, but, unfortunately 
for my side of the argument, quite unlike the broad, nearly 
circular, erect crest terminating the commissure in Picea; 
(4) “ripening the first year,” (said of the cones) is not 
distinctive because the cones of both fir and spruce mature 
in a single season; (5) “cotyledons 3-sided” is also irrel- 
evant, for the lobes of all polyphylliary cotyledons must be 
triquetrous whether of a fir or a pine; (6) “wing of seed 
narrow, pointed” describes quite frequently the form of 
spruce, never that of fir, seed-wings; (7) “the structure of 
the wood is quite distinct” not from most of the tough 
spruces, but quite so from the soft, brittle wood of most of 
the firs; (8) finally, the most important characters relied 
upon iar classification by modern systemists, namely those 
of the fruit, a few of which are given in Dr. Masters’ 
paragraph, show plainly, that our tree belongs with the 
spruces. 
If Dr. Masters had rounded out his description by giving 
all the salient, distinguishing characters of the spruces 
(including Pseudotsuga) to wit:—Trees less symmetrical 
than the firs (Abies), the branches less frequently in whorls; 
leaves petioled or on raised bases; cones ovate or elliptical, 
terminal or nearly so, their scales persistent; seeds rounded, 
not gland-bearing, half-covered by the base of the pointed 
