SILVER FIRS. 207 



A large tree, found at Port May, in the south-eastern part of 

 Mandschuria, in Eastern Tartary. 



No. 9. Picea nobilis, Loudon, the Noble Silver Fir, 

 Syn. Pinus nobilis, Douglas. 

 Abies nobilis, Lindley. 



Leaves solitary, crowded, irregularly two-rowed, mostly on 

 the upper side of the branches ; one inch and three-quarters 

 long, flat, linear, falcate, compressed, and turned upwards, dull 

 green above, and silvery beneath. Cones solitary on the upper 

 part of the top branches, cylindrical, thick, and rather obtuse ; 

 six or seven inches long, and two inches and three quarters 

 broad. Scales triangular, with the edges incurved, entire on 

 the margin, and without the bract, one inch and a quarter long, 

 and the same broad. Bracteas projecting, imbricated back- 

 wards, and longer 'than the scales ; jagged round the edges on 

 the exposed part, five-eighths of an inch long, and with a long 

 and rather broad point or tail in the middle. Seeds small, 

 angular, soft, and with the wings one inch and a quarter in 

 length, and five-eighths of an inch broad in the widest part. 



A noble tree, growing 200 feet high, with regular, hori- 

 zontal, spreading branches, and cinnamon-coloured bark. It 

 is found growing on the North- West Coast of North America, 

 along the banks of the Columbia Ptiver, and on the moun- 

 tains of Northern California, Mr. Jeffrey found it on the 

 Shasta Mountains at an elevation of from 6000 to 8000 feet, 

 a tree 200 feet high and four feet in diameter, growing in a 

 red loamy soil. 



This majestic tree, according to Douglas, forms vast forests 

 upon the mountains of Northern California, and produces 

 excellent timber. He says, " I spent three weeks in a forest 

 composed of this tree, and day by day could not cease to 

 admire it." The Indians along the Columbia River and on the 

 north-west coast call it Tuc Tuc (Big Tree). 



