THE SILVER FIRS. 159 



No. 15. PicEA PiNSAPO, Loudon, the Pinsapo Fir. 

 Syn. Abies Pinsapo, Boissier. 

 „ Pinus Pinsapo, Endlicher. 

 „ Abies Hispanica, De. Chamb. 



Leaves, solitary, regularly and thickly disposed around the 

 branches, short, not more than half an inch long, and placed at 

 right angles on the branches, very stiff, sharp-pointed, flat on 

 the upper surface, and with a central rib slightly marked on 

 each side by two furrows, which forms the only and very super- 

 ficial indication of the two silvery lines so strikingly conspicuous 

 on the under side of the leaves in the Silver Fir tribe. Branches, 

 regularly in whorls on the main stem, very densely clothed 

 with laterals even to their base, and scarcely extending any 

 wider than those branches nearer the top, giving the tree a shape 

 rather that of a cylinder than a pyramid ; the young shoots 

 also have a cylindrical shape, on account of the leaves being so 

 thickly placed at right angles all round the stem. Bark, darker 

 in colour, and more scaly than that of the common Silver Fir. 

 Cones, erect, in great numbers on the upper part of the top 

 branches towards their extremities, and without any footstalks ; 

 oval, cylindric, terminating abruptly at the top, often with a 

 small elevated point, and from four to five inches long, and from 

 two to two and a half inches broad. Scales, rounded, entire, 

 and broad in the exposed part of the cone, but rather wedge- 

 shaped towards the base. Bracteas, small, concealed by the 

 scales, and not extended beyond them. Seeds, angular, soft, 

 and with a membranaceous wing. Seed-leaves, seven in number. 

 A fine tree, sixty or seventy feet high, with a dense branching 

 head, and timber full of resin, resembling in colour and struc- 

 ture that of the common Silver Fir. 



It is found in Spain, on the mountains between Ronda and 

 Malaga, in Granada, and forming forests on the higher parts of 

 the Sierra de la Nieve, at an elevation of from 4,000 to 6,000 

 feet. It abounds in all the higher mountains, particularly on the 

 northern exposures, reaching even near the summits, where 

 the snow lies at least four or five months in the year. 

 There is the following variety, viz : — 



