104 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFER.E 



Var. crassa. 



Compact in habit. 



Distinguished from all other firs except A. Lowiana by the 

 pectinate arrangement of the leaves. In the latter species the 

 leaves are similarly arranged, but have a grey or silvery colour, 

 stomatic lines on each surface, and the leaves in the upper rank 

 are only slightly shorter than those in the lower rank. 



This handsome fir has a wide range in W.N. America, extend- 

 ing from Vancouver Island through Washington and Oregon to 

 California. It grows at altitudes from sea-level up to 3,500 ft. 

 Discovered by Douglas on the Columbia River in 1825 and intro- 

 duced to Britain by him about 1832. 



Wood fight, soft, rather weak, not durable, pale yeUow or 

 brownish, finishing weU, and used in joinery in the indoor finish of 

 houses and for boxes and crates. It is a second-rate fir wood, but 

 there are many uses for which it is suitable. The large number of 

 exceUent timber trees found within its range make it less sought 

 after than would otherwise be the case. An oleo-resin obtained 

 from the bark-bfisters is used in the same way as Canada balsam. 



A . grandis thrives and grows rapidly in the British Isles, where 

 it is used as an ornamental specimen and for planting under 

 sylvicultural conditions. The best results follow planting in 

 moist ground in places where the atmospheric conditions are on 

 the moist side. It gives excellent results in many parts of Scot- 

 land up to 1,200 feet elevation, where annual growths 12-15 in. 

 in length are often formed. In an open position it retains its 

 branches to the ground-line for many years. In America the 

 most luxuriant growth occurs on moist land at low elevations. 

 It is one of the least tolerant of shade amongst the firs. 



Sudworth, The Spruce and Balsam Fir Trees of the Rocky Mountains, 29 

 (1916). 



Abies holophylla, Maximowicz. 

 Manchueian Fie. 



A tree 100-150 ft. high, with a trunk 12 ft. in girth and moder- 

 ately stout spreading or ascending branches, and dark green 

 foliage. It is closely aUied to A. firma, but differs in the leaves 

 not being notched at the apex and in the bracts of the cone, which 

 are only about one-third the length of the scales. It is found in 

 mountain woods in the Manchurian provinces of Ussusi, Kirin, and 

 Mukden, and also in N. Corea, where it is cultivated at low levels. 



A. holophylla is cultivated in Russia and at the Arnold Arbor- 

 etum, where seeds were received from Corea in 1904. Wilson, ^ 

 states that it is of httle value as a timber tree, but for garden 

 purposes ranks with A. hrachyphylla. We have seen young 

 trees cultivated under the name in England, but cannot be sure 

 of their identity. 



^ Phytogeographical Sketch of Corea, Joum. Am. Arh. i, 39 (1919). 



