3 ABIES ; OR 



Section I. VERA, or the true Spruces, with four-sided, 



NEEDLE-SHAPED LEAVES, SCATTERED ALL ROUND THE SHOOTS. 



No. 1. Abies alba, Michaux, the White Spruce Fir. 

 syn. Abies curvifolia. Booth. 



„ ,, glauca, Hort. 



„ Picea alba. Link. 



„ Pinus laxa, Ehrhart. 



„ „ glauca, Mvench. 



„ „ tetragona, Mcench. 



„ „ alba, Aiton. 

 Leaves, solitary, incurved, sharp-pointed, glaucous, four-sided, 

 and scattered round the branches ; three-quarters of an inch long, 

 and not very thickly set on the branches ; branches, compact and 

 rather dense. Cones, oblong-cylindrical ; 2 or 2^ inches long 

 and rather more than half an inch broad ; slightly tapering to 

 the point, pendulous, and not very firm ; scales, thin, smooth, and 

 broadly rounded on the upper part ; half an inch wide, but much 

 smaller towards the apex or top, regularly overlapping each 

 other, and with entire margins. 



A tree with horizontal branches, growing to a height of 

 50 feet, and seldom more than 1^ foot in diameter, forming a 

 regular pyramid, with very light coloured bark, and quite a 

 silvery appearance on account of the whiteness of its foliage. 

 Wood, inferior to that of any other spruce in quality. 



It is a native of Canada, New Brunswick, Maine, and Caro- 

 lina ; and even extends to near the Arctic Sea ; for, according to 

 Dr. Richardson, it is the most northerly tree that came under 

 his observation on the Coppermine River, within 20 miles of 

 the Arctic Sea, growing there 20 feet high. There are the fol- 

 lowing varieties : 



Abies alba nana, Loudon. 

 Syn. Abies alba prostrata, Hort. 

 This only differs in being much smaller in all its parts, and in 

 not growing more than 3 or 4 feet high, but forming a very 

 dense spreading bush. 



