Laterals scattered; ■\vinter-buds long and sharp-pointed (7 mm.), with no crater- 

 formation. Cf. Kew spar, 214 ft., erected 1919. 



Staminate flower, -5 in., orange-red, deflected to lower side of shoots; stamens 

 numerous, pollen-sacs 2, dehiscence obliquely longitudinal. Pollen spherical, not 

 winged. 



Ovulate flower, -f in., 3-fid bract-scales red or greenish, as prominent pollen- 

 collecting brushes, of slender median lobe with ' stipular ' laterals ; pollinated second 

 week of May ; inverted to green cone, maturing in one season. 



Adult cone, pendulous, brown, 2^-4^ in. (6 in. in macrocarpa), with long project- 

 ing 3-fid bract-scale (15 mm.): cone-scales soft, broad, and rounded, (3 : 5) seriate. 

 Seed 6 mm., wing 10 mm., broad below the middle; dead cones dropped in spring, 

 or persistent. Cots. 5-12. Estimated output of 40-yr. tree, 100 ft., 15,000 cones, 

 approx. 500,000 seeds, or 5 lb. weight. 



VI. ABIES (26) Forest-trees of N. Temp. Europe and N. Amer. The most 

 generalized of the group. 



Abies pectinata (Silver Fir), not indig., Mts. of S. Europe, 150-200 ft., 6 ft. 

 diam., pyramidal, false whorls more or less apparent on main axes, laterals more 

 horizontal ; sub-laterals without special rule as resting buds, short shoots, flowers, &c. 



Annual shoot, needles 25 mm., broad and grooved above, pectinated in 2 rows 

 and crested, upper leaves shorter, spirally arranged on erect leaders (1-2 ft.), 

 persisting 8-10 years. Flowering at 30 years, 60 in forest. T-bud markedly 

 crateriform. 



Staminate flowers, i in. or more, spaced on previous season's shoots, deflected 

 to lower side ; stamens numerous, pollen-sacs 2, dehiscing transversely ; pollen winged, 

 output enormous. 



Ovulate flowers, slender, 2 in., erected on upper side of shoots ; bract-scales erect 

 and acuminate, pollen-collecting (May) : green cones erected permanently with great 

 accuracy on laterals, matured in one season, cylindrical with protruding bract-scale tips. 



Adiilt cone, 6-7 in. by 2, slender; scales soft, bract reflexed, cone-scales 

 rounded, detached from slender cone-axis (Oct.). Seeds 7 mm., with broad wing 

 (8 mm.) closely adherent. Cots. 4-5. 



Seedling, 5 leaves and 2 in. high ; branching in 3-4 years ; 2 ft. at 9 years. 



Cf. A. nobilis (N. Amer. 250 ft.), a beautiful type ; staminate flowers red-purple, 

 elongating to i in. and pendulous. Cones very large and erected, 6-9 in. by 3 in. 

 diam., of over 500 scales, completely clothed by reflexed bract-scales (i mm. broad, 

 with mucro 10 mm.). Full size, i lb. green, by end of June. 



A. Nordmanniivia (Caucasus, 200 ft.). Laterals horizontal, rigid: cones 6 in, 

 with reflexed bract-scales. A. Veitchii (Japan, 60 ft.), similar habit, cones 4 in., 

 violet-black with anthocyan. 



A. Pinsapo (Spain, 100 ft.), foliage stiff and prickly, less D.V., ramuli rigid, dense 

 growth ; cones 5 in. ; bracts shorter than the cone-scales. 



TIMBERS: — 



Picea, no marked duramen, hence distinguished as ' White Deal '. Resin-ducts, 

 fusiform rays, and M.R.T. with smooth walls, present : M.R.P. with small slit (^) pits, 

 2-4 per tracheide ; transverse walls irregularly waved and pitted ; end-walls 

 irregularly pitted (not definitely 'beaded'). Spiral thickening of tracheides and 

 jagging of M.R.T. casual. 



Tsuga canadensis : Ducts, resin-cells and M.R.T. present ; the ducts (cysts) 

 feeble, and no fusiform rays: M.R.P. with small pits, 2-4 per tracheide; end-walls 

 strongly pitted. 



Pseudotsuga : No marked duramen, but conspicuously differentiated rings 

 (summer wood dai k-coloured). Resin-ducts, M.R.T., and fusiform rays present ; resin 

 cysts in the latter with few (5-6) lining cells. Spiral thickening of tracheides 

 conspicuous, and normally characteristic. M.R.P. with small slit (</>) pits, 4-5 per 

 tracheide ; transverse and end-walls thick and pitted. 



Abies pectinata : Resin-ducts wanting (or traumatic only) ; M.R.T. typically 

 wanting (or sporadic only): M.R.P. with small flared pits, 2-6 per tracheide; the 

 most generalized of the Abietineae ; other Conifers closely approximate the same 

 level of specialization. 



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