Picea 87 



distinct species, Abies microsperma. Plants raised from the seed " turned out to 

 be unsuitable for the climate of this country." \ This form, according to Mayr, 

 and so far as I can judge myself, can hardly rank even as a variety, and is not 

 in cultivation at the present time. 



Maries^ visited Yezo in 1879 and sent home specimens, now preserved in 

 the Kew Herbarium, and seeds of the true Picea ajanensis from that island ; 

 and ytjung trees should accordingly be in cultivation in this country. This plant 

 was kept separate by Messrs. Veitch at first, under the name Abies yezoensis. 

 Maries considered the Yezo spruce to be quite distinct in habit and aspect from 

 the two spruces which he had seen on Fujiyama [Alcockiana and hondoensis). 



Mayr informed me last year that the Yezo spruce was not introduced into 

 Europe until 1891 ; and that most of the trees on the Continent passing under 

 the name of Picea ajanensis belong to Picea hondoensis. The specimens which 

 have been sent me from old trees of reputed P. ajanensis in England also belong 

 to that species. (A. H.) 



On account of the heavy floods which occurred in July 1904, I did not get 

 far enough north in Hokkaido to see this tree at its best, but in the State 

 forests of Shari, Kutami, and Kushiro, it occurs in great masses, and is one of 

 the principal economic products of the island. I saw it thinly scattered in forests 

 of deciduous trees between Sapporo and Asahigawa, where it was of no great 

 size, and in the forest round the volcanic crater-lake of Shikotsu in the south-east 

 of Hokkaido it formed, here and there, nearly pure forests of small extent, mixed 

 more or less with Picea Glehnii and Abies sachalinensis, at an elevation of 1000 to 

 2000 feet. The vegetation in these forests was quite unlike anything that I saw 

 in Central Japan, the ground being covered with a dense layer of humus, and in 

 the more shady places two or three species of Pyrola were abundant. Daphne, 

 Gaultheria, Ledum, and other plants not seen elsewhere occurred, with curious 

 terrestrial orchids and many ferns. The trees rarely exceeded 80 feet in height 

 by 4 to 6 feet in girth, but higher up near the lake I measured one as much as 

 100 by 9 feet. 



The general appearance of the tree is very like that of P. sitchensis, though 

 I did not notice that the roots became buttressed, which is probably only the 

 case in wet soil. The natural reproduction is good, but the seedlings grow 

 slowly at first and seemed to thrive best in shade. The Japanese name is 

 Eso-Matsu. 



Timber 



The wood of this tree is soft, but probably as good as that of other spruces. 

 I passed the night at a factory in the forest where it was being cut up into thin 

 slices for export to Osaka, where large quantities are used for making matchboxes. 

 It is also employed for boat masts and other purposes, and is worth in Tokyo about 

 lod. per cubic foot. On account of its softness, lightness, and fineness of grain, 



' Kent, in Veitch's Man. Conifera, loc. cit. 

 '' See Veitch's A/an. Coniferu, ed. i. p. 72 (1881). 



