GIGANTIC SILVER FIRS. 177 



feet high, 5 feet in diameter, and with a trunk of 50 

 feet without branches. * Picea Amabilis is another 

 magnificent tree of at least as gigantic a growth, seen 

 towering above all other trees in the forests of Northern 

 California. 



It was also found growing by Jeffry on the moun- 

 tains to the eastward of the Frazer River, in Lat. 

 50, where he saw it growing in gravelly soil to a 

 height of 250 feet, and 5 feet in diameter, with 60 

 feet of stem without branches, f 



Picea Lowiana is another splendid tree of almost 

 equal size, found throughout North Western America 

 in valleys, and along alluvial flats near rivers, grow- 

 ing 250 feet high, and measuring 5 and 6 feet in dia- 

 meter. 



Picea Magnified is yet another, furnished with beau- 

 tiful glaucous foliage, forming immense trees in the 

 Sierra Nevada and Upper California. ** 



But the gem of the whole collection, from an orna- 

 mental point of view, is undoubtedly the Picea 

 Nobilis, which is found on the Columbia River and 

 Northern California, growing to a height of 200 feet, 

 remarkable, like the last named, for its peculiarly 

 beautiful glaucous foliage of a deep blue-green tint, 

 and its singularly striking cinnamon-coloured bark. 

 This noble silver fir is found ascending the mountain sides 

 to an elevation of 8000 feet. In Northern California, 

 according to Douglas, it forms vast and majestic 

 forests, through which he wandered for weeks, noting 

 their botanical treasures; at one time he says: "I 

 spent three weeks in a forest composed of this tree, 



* Gordon's Pinetrtm, 1 8 80, p. 217. f Ibid., p. 217. 



Ibid., p. 218. ** Ibid., p. 219. 



VOL. II. 12 



