318 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERS 



Picea bicolor, Mayr. 

 Alcock's Spruce, 



Picea Alcockiana, Carriere ; Abies Alcoquiana, Veitch ex Lindley (in 

 part). 



A tree attaining 80 ft. high in Japan. Bark grey or grey- 

 brown, breaking into small scales Branches slender, horizontal, 

 often sUghtly ascending, forming a tree with a broadly pyramidal 

 crown. Young shoots whitish at first, becoming hght brown or 

 buff-coloured in the second year, and eventually darker in colour. 

 Weak lateral shoots often without hairs, but terminal shoots 

 more or less hairy. Buds ovoid or conic, about -\ in. long, with 

 obtuse, closely overlapping scales. Leaves arranged like those of 

 P. excelsa, |-| in. long, stiff, quadrangular in section, mucronate, 

 with 5 or 6 white lines of stomata on each of the two upper sides 

 and two narrower bands of about 2 lines each on the lower 

 sides. Cones ovoid-cylindric, stalkless, 3-4 in. long, 1-1 J in. 

 wide, pale reddish purple when growing, becoming brown when 

 ripe ; scales obovate to rhombic, appressed or more or less reflexed 

 at the apex, which is broad or rounded and toothed. Seed i-i in. 

 long, wing 5 in. 



Var. acicularis, Shirasawa and Koyama.^ 



Distinguished from typical P. bicolor by its densely crowded, 

 long, linear and mostly incurved, bluish- white leaves, and by its 

 entire smooth and not undulated cone-scales. It is found in the 

 region of Mount Shirane, Cent. Japan. 



Var. reflexa, Shirasawa and Koyama.^ 



Habit very similar to that of typical P. bicolor, but the tips 

 of the cone-scales are reflexed. It is found in the region of Mount 

 Shirane, Cent. Japan, at elevations of 4,500-6,000 ft. 



As a native tree this spruce occurs in the mountains of Cent. 

 Japan, where it was discovered in 1861 by John Veitch, who 

 named it after Sir Rutherford Alcock, his companion on the 

 expedition, but unfortunately the specimens collected at the 

 time included the leaves of P. jezoensis and the cones of P. 

 bicolor, and Lindley's original description of Abies Alcoquiana 

 covers both species. Seeds were also sent out under this name, 

 which accounts for P. jezoensis being often called P. Alcoquiana 

 in gardens. 



P. bicolor does not appear to be of much economic importance 

 in Japan, as it is rather scarce and confined to regions where 

 timber extraction is difficult. The wood, however, is probably 

 mixed with that of P. jezoensis. 



^Oard. Chron. Aug. 14, 1915, p. 98. 

 ^ Gard. Chron., loc. cit., p. 99. 



