326 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERS 



two or three stomatic lines on each side. Cones pendulous, 

 cylindric, variable in size, about 4-6 in. long, turning brown when 

 ripe in autumn, opening and releasing the seeds the following 

 spring, and falhng during the subsequent summer or autumn ; 

 scales thin and flexible, variable but often rhomboid in shape, 

 1-1 1 in. long, |-f in. wide, truncate and toothed at the apex ; 

 bract about i in. long, lanceolate, toothed at the tip. Seed ^ in. 

 long, wing f in. long. 



Many varieties of the common spruce have been described.^ 



Var. acuminata, Beck. 

 Cone-scales suddenly narrowed into a long, recurved, undulate 

 point. Found in the Jura, the Alps, E. Prussia, and S. Sweden. 



Var. argenteo-spica, Hesse. 

 Young shoots creamy-white. 



Var. aurea, Carriere. 

 Leaves yellowish- white, shining. 



Var. chlorocarpa, Purkyne. 

 Cones green before ripening. 



Var. Clanbrassiliana, Carriere. 

 A dwarf compact globose bush usually not more than 5-6 ft. 

 high. Btids conspicuously red in colour. Leaves only ^-| in. 

 long. Said to have been first found near Belfast at the end of 

 the eighteenth century and introduced into England by Lord 

 Clanbrassil. Common in cultivation, but apparently never 

 producing cones. Var. Gregoryana is rather similar in habit. 



Var. columnaris, Carriere. 



Of narrowly columnar habit. Branches short, horizontal, 

 clothed with dense short branchlets and foUage. Long known 

 in cultivation and found wild in several Swiss localities. 



Var. corticata, Schroter. 

 Bark thicker than usual and furrowed Hke that of a pine. 



Var. eremita, Carriere. 



Habit slender, pjrramidal ; branches usually pointing upwards 

 at an acute angle with the stem. Shoots short, stout ; buds large ; 

 leaves thick, sharp-pointed. Vars. Dicksoni and gigantea are 

 very similar. 



^ Beissner {Handbuch der Nadelholzkunde, ed. 2, 1909) describes 70 varieties 

 and forms of this variable tree. See also Hornibrook, Dwarf and Slow-growing 

 Conifers, pp. 83-122 (U23). 



