PINACE.E 339 



Dr. Go van of Cupar first raised trees in Britain in 1818, at 

 Hopetoun House near Edinburgh. 



Little is known of the wood in the British Isles, but from 

 small specimens it appears to be very like that of P. excelsa. 

 It can, however, be procured in larger sizes. Its economic uses 

 are similar to those of common spruce, and it is in great request 

 in India for matches and for paper pulp. In a wild state it is 

 said to suffer seriously from heart-rot. 



P. Morinda is only grown for ornamental purposes in Britain. 

 It forms a handsome specimen, its long weeping branchlets giving 

 it a very distinct appearance. It is quite hardy and is easily 

 raised from seeds. Under natural conditions it withstands 

 moderate shade but requires more Hght than most of the spruces. 

 Troup ^ says that young plants are not so readily eaten by goats 

 as are young plants of the blue puie. Like other spruces it 

 requires moist soil and grows best under cool and moist climatic 

 conditions. 



Picea morindoides, Rehder. 



SiKKiM Spruce. 



Picea spiiiulosa, Heiuy ; Abies spLiiulosa, Griffith. East Himalayan 

 Spruce. 



One of the tallest of the spruces, attaining a height of over 

 200 ft. in the Himalaya. Branches pendulous, hke those of P. 

 Morinda. Bark rough, scaling off in small, squarish plates. 

 Young shoots slender, glabrous, yellowish in colour at first, but 

 becoming grey with age. Buds ovoid, about ^ in. long, pale 

 brown, slightly resinous, with obtuse scales. Leaves more or less 

 irregularly arranged round the shoot, crowded and closely 

 overlapping on the upper side, flattened, f— 1|^ in. long, keeled 

 on both surfaces, tipped with a sharp point, dorsal surface green, 

 ventral surface with two white lines of stomata. Cones cyHndric, 

 blunt, 2-3| in. long and about 1 in. wide, green with a purple 

 margin to the scales when young, shining brown when ripe ; 

 scales roundish, tapering at the base, with a finely toothed margin. 

 Seed i in. long, with a wing about | in. long. 



Distinguished from P. sitchensis, which it somewhat resembles, 

 by its radially arranged leaves. 



The Sikkim spruce is the only species occurring in the E. 

 Himalaya, where it was discovered about 1841 by Griffiths in 

 Bhutan, 150 miles east of the Sikkim frontier at 8,500-10,000 ft. 

 altitude. It has since been found in the Lachen and Chumbi 

 valleys of Sikkim. In the former valley trees of immense height 

 have been found, one fallen specimen measuring 220 ft. from the 

 roots to where it had broken off. 



P. morindoides was introduced into cultivation by Sir George 



^Silviculture of Indian Trees, in, pp. 1143-1154 (1921), 



