74 ABIES, OR SILVER FIRS 



obtained from its bark. A. Fraseri was introduced 

 here in 1811. It is a short-lived tree, and probably 

 no living specimens of that period are in existence now. 

 Its native countries are the Alleghany Mountains in 

 S.-W. Virginia, N. Carolina, and E. Tennessee. 



We will now take the members of Group II seriatim 

 and in order, as placed by Elwes and Henry m the 

 Trees of Great Britain. 



A. Bracteata presentsso many obvious singularities 

 that no one need be troubled with any misconceptions 

 as to its identity after a first introduction. 



Its leaves are spiny-tipped, the only one of the 

 tribe which claims this very pointed distinction. 

 They are very long ; from tip to tip they span some 

 5 J inches against the i J inches or so of the Common 

 Silver Fir. Its unique, long, spindle-shaped, light- 

 coloured bud, though not quite so long and more 

 rotund at the base, recalls the appearance of a Beech 

 bud. 



Yet the cone presents a weirder appearance than 

 all other strange aberrations of the Fir family put 

 together. It has the porcupine appearance of a 

 small cushion stuffed with very long pins. 



These long, protruding, leaf-like scales are exserted 

 bracts, a name given to those never fully developed 

 leaves that surround the fruit or cones of the tree 

 at its early stages, and sometimes, especially in this 

 tree and the Douglas, have a way of poking their noses 

 through the scales of the fully developed cone and 

 appearing in different forms ; in the case of a Douglas 

 in a Neptune trident form, in the case of the Bracteata 

 in the form of a thin bent wire an inch and a half long. 



The result is an uncanny quaintness of appearance 

 that makes them look like nothing on earth and 

 unlike anything upon trees. It is from these bracts 

 that the trees derive their name, and the word "bract " 



