80 DWABF AND SLOW-GBOWINO CONIFERS 



PICEA, Lk. 



The dwarf spruce firs are the backbone of the pygmy 

 arboretum. There are over sixty dwarf forms of P. 

 excelsa alone. 



Picea alba, Lk. (1841). 



Syn. : P. Canadensis, Brit, and Sargt. (1898). 

 P. glauca, Monch. 



The white spruce inhabits North America, and is widely 

 distributed through Canada from the Arctic regions to 

 the State of New York. The few dwarf forms it has 

 given us are among the best. P. alba, var. echinceformis, 

 is particularly desirable. 



P. alba, var. nana, Carr. ('^ Conif .," 239, 1855). 



Syn. : Abies alba prostrata, Hort. 



Abies alba nana, Loud. (" Encyclop. of Trees," 

 1030; 1838). 



Buds like the type but small, J to J inch. Branchlets, 

 annual growth about 1 inch, very numerous and close- 

 set; glabrous; shining white; stiff. Leaves short and 

 stiff and nearly appressed; arranged radially, but fewer 

 underneath; almost uniform in width, ending abruptly 

 in a short, blunt point. 



I have noticed in my garden that the buds on this form 

 do not all come out in the spring together, but a certain 

 proportion come out from time to time in succession all 

 through the summer. 



A round compact bush, according to Elwes and Henry 

 rarely 6 feet high. I have a specimen about 4 feet by 

 5 feet through. 



P. alba, var. nana glauca, Hort. 



Appears to differ only in the colour of its leaves, which 

 are very glaucous blue. 



