Abies 741 



Mounts Maenalus, Madara, Thaumasion, and Rhudia. Var. Apollinis occurs, in 

 Epirus on Mounts Tsumerka, Strungula, Peristeri ; in Thessaly, on Pindus and 

 Olympus ; in Eubcea on Mount Dirphys. It has also been found in Hellas on 

 Mounts CEta, Tymphrestus, Parnassus, Helicon, Cithaeron, Pateras, and Parnes ; 

 and in Peloponnesus on Mounts Chelmos, Olenos, Malevo, Taygetos. 



As Halacsy considers Abies Regince Amalice to be the same as the type, and not 

 the var. Apollinis, his account of the distribution differs from that generally adopted, 

 in which the view taken is that the type is confined to the island of Cephalonia, and 

 that all the continental forms are referable to the var. Apollinis} 



In Cephalonia the forest of this species occurs on Mount Enos, along a ridge 

 4000 to 5000 feet above sea-level and about 12 to 15 miles in length. It was 36 

 miles in circumference in 1 793 ; but its area was considerably reduced by disastrous 

 fires in 1798. No recent account of this forest, of which full details were given by 

 General Napier in 1833, has come under our notice.. 



The form which occurs in the mountains of Arcadia, distinguished as var. 

 Regina Amalics % by some authors, is remarkable for its capacity of producing coppice 

 shoots, when the trunk is felled ; and the main stem, even when untouched, is said 

 often to produce secondary stems and branches from the old wood. (A. H.) 



Cultivation 



Seeds 3 were first sent from Cephalonia to England by General Sir Charles 

 Napier in 1824; and the first plants, few in number, were raised by Mr. C. Hoare 

 of Luscombe Castle, who distributed them to various places. 4 Some time after- 

 wards Mr. Charlwood 5 sold seeds to the public, having received a cask of cones 

 from General Napier. 



The form Regina: Amalice was first noticed in 1856 by Schmidt of Athens, 

 who found a forest of this tree near Tripolitza in Central Arcadia ; its seeds have 

 recently been introduced abundantly. 



A. cephalonica seems to be quite hardy over the greater part of Great Britain, 

 but it is rather more susceptible to spring frosts than A. Pinsapo, because it starts 

 earlier into growth, and on this account should not be planted in low, damp, or 

 exposed places. It seems to grow on limestone, but not to be so distinctly a lime- 

 loving tree as A. Pinsapo. It ripens seeds in good years in the south of England, 

 but the seedlings which I have raised do not grow so fast as those of A. Pinsapo* 



1 With regard to the occurrence of this variety in Roumelia, Macedonia, and Thrace, see our remarks on p. 722 

 concerning the distribution of A. pectinata in the Balkan peninsula. 



2 See Regel, Gartcnflora, ix. 299, fig. (i860) ; and Seemann, Gard. Chron. 1861, p. 755 fig. 



* Loudon, loc. cit. 



4 A list of these places is given in Loudon, Gard, Mag. 1838, p. 31, and in Pinctum Britannicum, ii. p. 179. 

 6 Loudon, Gard. Mag. 1 839, p. 238. 



Owing to its susceptibility to late frosts and to attack by Chermes, it is now nearly impossible to grow this tree up to a 

 planting size. Its timber, when closely grown and of some age, is, in my opinion, the best of the European silver firs, being 

 hard, close in texture, and heavier in a dry state than any I have yet handled. Var. Apollinis is less subject to injury by 

 frosts and attack by Chermes than the above, and seems well adapted for planting in the north of Scotland. In cultivation 

 it maintains a more conical outline, and is easily distinguished from the type. (J. D. Crozier.) 



