SILVER FIRS. 217 



Syn. Abies grandis, Lindley. 

 Gordoniana, Carriere. 

 Leaves linear, flat, channelled above, emarginate, or with a 

 small notch at the point, and all irregularly arranged, horizon- 

 tally in double rows on each side of the branchlets, in a more 

 or less pectinate manner, on short twisted footstalks ; those 

 forming the upper tiers on each side of the shoots are much 

 the shortest, and little more than three quarters of an inch in 

 length, while the majority of those comprising the under series 

 are of various lengths, and nearly double that of the upper 

 ones, but not broader, and all of a deep glossy green above, 

 and with two silvery white bands below, between the mid-rib 

 and thickened margins, both of which are of a bright green 

 colour. Branches mostly in horizontal whorls, flat, and spread- 

 ing. Branchlets glossy, smooth, rather short, compact, and 

 placed laterally in two horizontal rows, and when young, with 

 quite a varnished appearance. Cones erect, cylindrical, and 

 from three and a half to four inches long, and one and a half 

 inch broad. Scales broad transversely, crescent shaped, rounded 

 on the exposed part, incurved at the edges, closely placed, 

 tolerably equal in size, downy externally, deciduous when fully 

 matured, and with the small fringed dorsal bracteas entirely 

 hidden by the overlapping scales; seeds small, angular, soft, 

 and with persistent wings, three quarters of an inch long. Seed- 

 leaves rive in number. 



A noble tree, always found in moist valleys, growing from 

 150 to 200 feet high, with a brown scaly bark, and very much 

 resembling the common Silver Fir when old, but differing in 

 the young shoots having a glossy or polished appearance, and 

 in its much smaller cones, with hidden dorsal bracteas. 



It was first discovered in 1831, by Douglas, in Northern 

 California, growing along the banks of rivers. Jeffrey found it 

 on the banks of Fraser's River, from the Falls, all the way 

 down to the ocean, but particularly on the alluvial banks of 

 the river near Fort Langley, growing 280 feet high, five feet in 

 diameter, and fifty feet without branches. It is also found on 



