PICEA EXCELSA.- 435 



var. pygmsea. 



A diminutive dense bush in which the branches are excessively 

 shortened and all their parts similarly diminished. Leaves small, 

 pungent, and very close set. var. echinoformis is a slight 

 modification of this. 



P. (Abies) excelsa pygmsea, Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. IV. 2295. P. excelsa 

 echinoformis, Beissner, Nadelholzk. 364. P. excelsa minima, Hort. 



The common Spruce Fir is one of the most widely distributed of 

 the European Conifeme. The region over which it is spread may 

 be broadly expressed as extending west to east from the Pyrenees 

 to the Ural mountains, and north to south from Lapland to the 

 Alps of northern Italy ; it does not, however, occur wild in Great 

 Britain, Denmark and Holland. Its geographical limits have been 

 carefully investigated by Professor Willkomin who gives the following 

 interesting facts, among many others, respecting its distribution. 



Its north-western limit occurs on the Norwegian coast about lat. 67 N. 

 and in east Finmark its extreme northern point i reached in 69 30' X. 

 From this point eastwards, its northern range sinks gradually till it 

 reaches the Ural mountains in lat. 63 N. where it meets the Siberian 

 Spruce, Picea obovata, with which it is often intermixed along its eastern 

 limit ; its farthest point in this direction is placed near the confluence 

 of the Wjalka (Viatka) and Kama rivers in lat. 55 where its southern 

 limit commences ; this trends in a south-western direction across Russia 

 to the Carpathian mountains which it follows southwards and along the 

 connecting ranges to Mount Kopaonik in Servia about lat. 43 X. 

 Westwards from this locality it follows the slopes of the mountains 

 through Croatia, Styria and the Alps along their whole extent to Nice ; 

 it then crosses the Cevennes and reaches the central Pyrenees on which 

 it occurs but sparingly. The western limits of the common Spruce Fir 

 have a very irregular outline extending from the Pyrenees through central 

 France to the Vosges and thence along the mountains of south-west and 

 central Germany through Saxony to Silesia and Pomerania. The altitude 

 to which it ascends on the mountains varies inversely with the latitude 

 of the locality; in Norway its highest vertical limit is from 2,500 to 

 2,900 feet above the level of the ocean ; on the Harz mountains 

 3,000 feet ; on the Bavarian Alps 4,500 feet ; on the Tyrolese and Swiss 

 Alps 6,500 feet; but although the vertical limit is gradually higher in 

 proceeding from north to south, there are instances in which this limit 

 is lowered, chiefly in the south-west, the cause of which is ascribed to 

 the lower hygronietric condition of the atmosphere. In the northern and 

 central parts of its range, the Spruce Fir descends into the plains and 

 in places covers considerable areas ; in the southern parts it is essentially 

 a mountain tree, more scattered and forming but small stretches of pure 

 forest. 



The German Forestry authorities distinguish two principal forms 

 (Hauptformen) of the Spruce Fir, the red-coned crythrocai'pa and the 

 green-coned chlorocarpa ; this difference in the colour of the cones 

 is always accompanied by a difference in the habit of the tree and 

 in the quality and texture of the wood. Besides these Hauptformen, 

 several geographical or climatic varieties are also recognised, which 



