10 ABIES ; OR 



No. 7. Abies Pattonii, Jeffrey, Patton's Giant Californian Fir. 

 Syn. Abies gracilis, Hort. 

 „ ,, trigona, Rafinesque. 

 „ „ Hookeriana, Murray. 

 „ Picea Californica, Carrier e. 



Leaves, solitary, alternate, thickly scattered on all sides of the 

 branches, petiolate, trigone, stiff, curved, acuminate, and rather 

 blunt-pointed, three-quarters of an inch long, and nearly one- 

 tenth of an inch broad, triangular, a little declining, and spring- 

 ing from a small triangular pedestal of soft, spongy, elastic bark 

 at the junction with the shoots ; bright green above and glau- 

 cescent beneath ; buds irregularly scattered along the twigs, 

 terminal ones very scaly, pointed, and destitute of resin, the 

 bud scales continuing to encircle the twigs for years afterwards. 

 Branches and young shoots densely covered with a brown woolly 

 substance, and rough, scaly bark, slender, and rather drooping. 

 Cones, cylindrical, oblong, tapering slightly to both ends, from 

 2 to 2| inches long, and 1 inch broad, pendulous, crowded, and 

 produced at the points of the top branches, smooth externally, 

 and of a light brown colour ; scales, rounded, thickest in the 

 centre, and thin on the edges, entire, or somewhat wavy on the 

 margins, very numerous, nearly all of a size, five-tenths of an 

 inch broad, and rather loosely placed ; seeds, very small, with 

 rather a broad wing, a quarter of an inch long, stem straight, 

 with numerous slender drooping branches, not very prolific at 

 the extremities. Bark, rough, scaling off in irregular flakes, and 

 of a reddish brown colour, particularly on the young shoots. It 

 yields but little resin ; but the timber is hard, fine grained, and 

 of a reddish colour. 



This splendid tree was first discovered by Lewis and Clarke, 

 while exploring the sources of the Missuri River, and across 

 the American continent to the Pacific Ocean, in the years 

 1804-6, and is described as being found by them attaining 300 

 feet in height, without any branches on the stem for more than 

 200 feet, and 42 feet in circumference at a point beyond the 

 reach of an ordinary man. Mr. Jeffery, who again discovered 

 it on the Mount Baker range, in Northern California, describes 



