HARDY CONIFEROUS TREES 3 



Flowers monoecious ; male catkins scattered, axillary 

 amongst the upper leaves. 



Cones erect, cylindrical or nearly so, maturing the first 

 year, terminal. 



Scales falling off when ripe from the persistent cone-axil. 



Bracts free from the scales except at their base, and longer 

 or shorter than these. 



Seeds somewhat triangular, with a large usually wedge- 

 shaped inseparable wing. 



Cotyledons leafy, entire, fiat, and from four to eight in 

 number. 



Leaves fiat, solitary, more or less in two rows, silvery below, 

 leaving a circular indentation on the branch when they fall. 



Large-growdng trees, with erect cones, and the branches 

 usually arranged in horizontal tiers. 



Abies amabilis, Forbes. Red Fir. (Synonyms : 

 Pinus amabilis, Douglas ; P. grandis, Don ; Picea 

 amabilis, Loudon ; Abies grandis, Murray ; A. 

 grandis densiflora, Engelmann ; A. magnifica of 

 some gardens.) Fraser River Valley to Oregon. 

 1830. — This handsome tree is by no means common 

 in the British Isles, probably owing to the con- 

 fusion which, until recently, existed respecting 

 the identity and nomenclature of this and others 

 of the North American Firs. As an ornamental 

 tree it is second to no other conifer, the easily 

 arranged and semi-decumbent branches with the 

 fiattish shoots given off nearly at right angles, 

 and great wealth of intense bluish green fragrant 

 foliage, rendering it as unique as it is beautiful. 

 The leaves, which are nearly of equal length, and 

 about an inch long, are densely arranged on the 

 upper side of the branches. They are of a dark 

 glossy green above, with two broad glaucous lines 

 beneath. The cones are very beautiful, being of 

 a rich, deep purple, 4J inches long by about half 

 that in width ; while the broadly bell - shaped 



