258 CONIFERS. 



maturing in the autumn of the same year. Scales of the cones thin, not 

 tipped, as in the pine, with a thickened spine. Leaves rigid, foliaceous, 

 scattered, not fasciculate, persistent for two or three years. 



Abies balsamea Marshall. Balsam Fir. 



Description. Cones cylindrical, 2 to 4 inches long, erect on the upper 

 side of the spreading branches; scales mostly deciduous from the persist- 

 ent axis at maturity. Leaves to f inch long, narrow, flat, rigid, bright 

 green above, silvery beneath, mostly sessile on horizontal branches, and 

 spreading in two directions so as to seem 2-ranked. 



A slender, tapering tree, rarely more than 40 feet high ; branches dimin- 

 ishing in length in proportion to their height from the ground, forming, 

 under favorable circumstances, a perfectly regular pyramidal head. Bark 

 rather smooth, bearing resin in vesicles. 



Habitat. In cold damp woods and swamps from New England to Penn- 

 sylvania, Wisconsin, and northward ; common in Canada, not forming for- 

 ests but disseminated among other trees. 



Abies Fraseri Pursh. Fraser's or Southern Pal mm Fir. 



Description. Cones oblong-ovate, 1 to 2 inches long, otherwise mucli 

 like the preceding. A small tree. 



Habitat. In the mountains from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. 



Abies Canadensis Michaux. Hemlock, Hemlock Spruce. 



Description. Cones oval, ^ to f inch long, hanging on the ends of the 

 branches of the preceding year, persistent ; scales not falling away from 

 the axis. Leaves linear, obtuse, ^ inch long, scattered, somewhat 2-ranked, 

 dark green above, paler beneath. A large tree, often 70 to 80 feet high, 

 with a diameter of 2 to 3 feet ; in forests, with spreading branches at the 

 top. Bark rough and deeply-furrowed ; wood light, coarse-grained, but 

 comparatively strong, largely used for fences and outbuildings. 



Habitat. In hilly and rocky soil. In many regions it forms forests of 

 considerable extent, especially on west hillsides. Most common north- 

 ward. It is approaching extinction in many sections of the Northern 

 United States, since it does not flourish as a second-growth tree. 



farts Used. The resinous exudation of all species. That procured 

 from A. balsamea is official under the name Terebinthina Canadensis 

 Canada turpentine, or Canada balsam. It is contained in blisters or vesi- 

 cles upon the bark and is collected by puncturing these and pressing out 

 their contents. A. Fraseri yields a balsam of identical character. The 

 resinous exudation of A. Canadensis is official under the name Pix Cana- 

 densis Canada pitch or hemlock pitch. 



Constituents. Canada turpentine is a yellowish or faintly greenish, 

 transparent, viscid liquid, of an agreeable terebinthinate odor, and a bitter- 

 ish, slightly acrid taste. Exposed to the air it slowly concretes, and forms 

 a mass which is brittle when cold. It is composed of volatile oil and 

 resin. 



