508 



ABIES FIRMA. 



highly probable that its geographical range is not restricted to Japan, 



but that it is also distributed over 



a considerable area of the coast 



region of the Asiatic continent 



far into Amurland if the A. 



holopliylla of Maximowicz should 



prove to be the same species. 



First seen by Thunberg 



during his brief stay in 



Japan in 1777, but referred 



by him to the European 



Abies pectinata, A. finna 



became definitely known to 



science through Siebold and 



Zuccarini's description and 



figures published in 1842 from 



specimens gathered by the first 



named author who only saw 



trees in cultivation in gardens 



at Nagasaki and along the main 



road leading from that place to 



Tokio. In addition to these 



they also published a figure ' 



and description of a sterile 



branchlet under the name, of 



A. bifida, in the belief that 



it belonged to another species 



whence both names came into 



use in European gardens for 



a time. A. firma was intro- 

 duced in 1861 by the late 



John Gould Veitch, and again 



in 1878 by Maries Avho observed 



great variability in the foliage 



and habit of the cultivated trees. 



It has, however, proved dis- 

 appointing both in Great Britain 



and the north-eastern States of 



America which may be explained 



by Mayr's statement respecting 



its habitat.* As a timber tree 



Abies Jirma is not much in 



repute ; the wood is soft, 



straight -grained and easy to 



work but not durable ; it is 



scarcely distinguishable from 



that of A nectinata Fig. 132. Cone of Abies firma from the lowlands 



of Hondo. 



ft * The best specimens known to me are at Castle Kennedy, a beautiful tree 35 feet high, 

 in robust health ; at Hamwood, Co. Meath, a smaller tree but in perfect condition ; at 

 Tortworth Court, a tree over 30 feet high, but not so well characterised as the two 

 preceding ones ; and at Carclew, in Cornwall, a tree over 50 feet high that has lost its 

 lowermost branches from overcrowding. 



