34 CONTKIBUTIONS PROM THE NATIONAL HEEBAKIUM. 



1. Picea engelmanni Parry; Engelm. Trans. Acad. St. Louis 2: 212. 1863. 



Engelmann spruce. 



Abies engelmanni Parry, loc. cit. 



Type locality: "Higher parts of the Rocky Mountains, from New Mexico to the 

 headwaters of the Columbia and Missouri rivers. 



Range: British Columbia to New Mexico and Arizona. 



New Mexico: Sandia Mountains; West Fork of the Gila; Bonito. Higher moun- 

 tains, Canadian and Hudsonian zones. 



A conical tree 20 to 25 meters high or less, with smooth, thin, flaky bark, dark 

 green foliage, and pendulous cones borne mostly on the uppermost branches. It occurs 

 only in the higher mountains at 2,700 to 3,300 meters where there is permanent 

 moisture, frequently forming dense pure forests. It is also found on the faces of cliffs 

 and on the tops of mountains up to timber line, where it is generally straggling and 

 dwarfed . When growing alone it is usually perfectly conical, bearing nearly horizontal 

 branches almost to the ground. The cones are small and purplish until maturity, 

 when they become dry and brown. 



2. Picea parryana Parry, Gard. Chron. 11: 334. 1879. Colorado blue spruce. 

 Abies parryana Engelm.; Parry, loc. cit. 



Type locality: Not stated. 



Range: Higher mountains of New Mexico and- Arizona, northward to Wyoming. 



New Mexico: Chama; Winsors Ranch; Sandia Moimtains; James Canyon; White 

 Mountain Peak. Canadian and Hudsonian zones. 



Very similar to the preceding, but the young leaves covered with a bloom which 

 gives rise to the name of "blue spruce," and the bark thick and deeply furrowed- 

 The range is similar to that of the Engelmann spruce, although usually at slightly 

 lower levels, and the value of the timber is about the same. The lumber is in 

 both cases rather poor, being weak and spongy, and full of knots. It is used to 

 some extent for making boxes. The Colorado blue spruce is a much better tree for 

 decorati^ purposes because of its color and also because it is a more rapid grower. 

 It does well at Santa Fe and could, no doubt, be used in other places of similar ele- 

 vation if properly cared for. 



3. ABIES Link. Fir. 



Large trees with spreading or ascending branches; leaves flat, blunt, short, so 

 arranged as to make the branches appear flat; cones erect, cylindrical, borne near the 

 top of the tree, their scales thin and deciduous. 



key to the species. 



Bark thin, smooth, corky -. A. arizonica. 



Bark thick, rough, not corky. 



Resin ducts of the leaves within the soft tissue, remote from the 



epidermis 2. A. lasiocarpa. 



Resin ducts near the epidermis, on the lower side of the leaf 3. A. concolor. 



1. Abies arizonica Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 10: 116. 1896. 



Cork-bark fir. 



Type locality: "West slope of San Francisco Mountain, Aaizona.'' 



Range: Higher mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. 



New Mexico: Twining; Sandia Mountains; Baldy; Baldy Peak, Mogollon 

 Mountains. Hudsonian Zone. 



A small conical tree growing in cooler situations in dense mixed forests, usually 

 associated with spruce and aspen. It is easily recognized by its thin, smooth, white, 

 corky bark, which persists after the tree has decayed. 



