4 CONIFEROUS TREES 



scales are nearly double the length of the abruptly 

 pointed bracts. The pretty pale pink male catkins 

 are quite a feature of the tree in spring. From the 

 nearly allied but perfectly distinct A. grandis, it 

 may at once be distinguished by the more crowded, 

 darker and usually shorter leaves, and particularly 

 by the deep purple cones. When planted in 

 suitable soil (the finest specimens I have seen are 

 growing in reclaimed peat bog on an estate in the 

 north of Ireland) this tree is of rapid growth, one 

 specimen in particular, growing under very favour- 

 able conditions, having for several consecutive 

 years made a leading growth of 15 inches. 



A. BALSAMEA, Miller. Balsam Fir. (Synonyms : 

 Pinus balsamea, Linnceus ; Picea balsamea, 

 Loudon.) Canada and North-East United States. 

 1697. — In a young state, and when grown under 

 favourable conditions, this is by no means an 

 inelegant species, but before the age of twenty 

 years the lower branches have usually given way, 

 and, in consequence, the tree wears a scraggy and 

 bare appearance. It appears to be a short-lived 

 tree and of little or no horticultural value. Un- 

 fortunately, too, it has the tendency to form early 

 growths, which are not infrequently destroyed 

 by frost. It is of medium height, and slender 

 growth, with fiat regularly arranged leaves, about 

 I J inches in length, and purplish or violet cones, 

 each about 2| inches long, by fully i inch in 

 diameter, the bracts varying much, both in shape 

 and length. The rate of growth is slow in this 

 country, although instances have been recorded 

 in which fully i foot has annually been added to 

 the height for nearly fifty years ; and a specimen 



