114 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERS 



distinguished by the leaves of the cone-bearing branches being 

 sometimes acute and not notched, and by the smaller, broader 

 cones with scales exceeding the bracts. 



This tree, which occurs in Amurland, and is plentiful in the 

 mountains of Corea, is imperfectly known, and has not been intro- 

 duced into cultivation. The late Dr. Masters considered it to be 

 a form of A. Veitchii. 



Abies nobilis, Lindley. (Fig. 21.) 

 Noble Fir. 



Picea nobilis, Loudon ; Pinus nobilis, Douglas. Bracted Fir ; Feather- 

 cone Fir ; Noble Red Fir ; Red Fir ; Oregon Larch. 



A tree attaining in America a maximum height of 250 ft. with 

 a girth of 24 ft. Bark smooth at first, becoming reddish brown 

 in old trees and deeply divided by broad flat ridges. Resinous 

 bhsters often occur on the trunks of cultivated specimens. Young 

 shoots rusty brown and downy hke those of A. magnifica. Winter 

 buds more or less hidden by the leaves at the tips of the shoots, 

 small, ovoid, globose, resinous at the tips, the outer scales elongated 

 and free. Leaves more closely set on the branches than in A. 

 7nagnifica, the middle ones completely concealing the upper side 

 of the shoot, pressed against the shoot for a short distance at their 

 base, then curving upwards ; shorter than in A . magnifica, up to 

 1^ in. long, more or less glaucous, flattened, rounded, and entire at 

 the tip ; upper surface grooved with stomata arranged in definite 

 bands or irregular lines ; lower surface with two narrow bands of 

 stomata separated by a green ridge ; resin canals marginal. 

 Cones very large, cyhndrical but narrowing slightly upwards, 

 6-10 in. long by 3-4 in. in diameter on cultivated trees, but only 

 about haK this size on wild specimens, purplish brown with green 

 bracts when growing, the bracts becoming brown as the cone 

 ripens ; scales variable in shape, 1 j-l| in. broad, 1 in. long, bracts 

 protruding, curving backwards, and covering the greater part of 

 the scale below. Seed about | in. long with a wing considerably 

 longer. 



Var. glauca. 



This differs from the type by its more glaucous foliage. 



A. nobilis can only be confused with A.7nagnifica,iTom. which 

 it differs in habit and arrangement of leaves. The grooved upper 

 surface of the leaves is a useful distinguishing character. The 

 cones of A. magnifica are only likely to be mistaken for A. nobilis 

 ju the variety shastensis, which has exserted bracts. 



/I . nobilis forms large forests along the slopes of the Cascade 

 Mountains of Washington ^nd Oregon, with a vertical range of 

 2,500-5,000 ft. It also occurs on the coast ranges of Washington 

 and the Siskiyou Mountains of California.. This tree was dis- 



