1030 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BR1TANNICUM. 



of the scale, scarcely broader than the wing 

 of the fruit, which is straight on both margins 

 towards the apex. Found on the Altai Moun- 

 tains, at an elevation of 5272 ft. Flowering in 

 May ; not yet introduced. 



Professor Don informs us that he strongly sus- 

 pects this tree to be only a northern form of vf bies 

 Smithidna. Ledebour, he says, has committed the 

 same error in regard to his P. obovata, as Dr. 

 Wallich did in the case of A bies Smithmwa ; that 

 is, he has described the cones as erect, while, from 

 the other parts of his description, the tree must 

 belong to the genus J v bies. 



B. Natives of North America. 

 1 4. A. A'LBA Michx. The white Spruce Fir. 



Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 207. ; N. Amer. Syl., 3. p. 182. 



Synonymes. Plnus 61ba Ait. Hort. Kew. 3. p. 371. ; P. laxa Ehrh. Bcitr. 3. p. 24. ; P. canadensis 



Du Roi Harbk. p. 124. ; A. curviffolia Hort. ; single Spruce, Amer. ; Epinette blanche, Canada; 



Sapinette blanche, Fr. 

 Engravings. Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 1. t. 36. : Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 148. ; the plate of this tree 



in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol viii. ; and our fig. 1928. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves somewhat glaucous, scattered round the branches, 

 erect, quadrangular. Cones oblong-cylindrical, pendulous, lax ; scales with 

 entire margins. (Michx.} Cones from Jf in. to 2iin. long, and from fin. 

 to fin. broad; on the tree at Dropmore, 4 in. long. Seed very small ; with 

 the wing, fin. long, -^-in. broad. Leaves fin. long; on the tree at Drop- 

 more, twice the length of those of A, nigra, very glaucous when they first 



1927 A Obov2lta . 



come out. A tree. Canada to Carolina, throughout the tracts of high 

 mountains.. Height 40 ft. to 50 ft. Introduced in 1 700. It flowers in 

 May and June, and the cones are ripe in the April following. 

 Variety. 



1 A. a. 2 ndna Dickson of the Chester Nursery. A low-growing plant, 



apparently somewhat distinct. 



Other Varieties. Loiseleur Deslongchamps states that, according to the 

 specimens of A. orientalis which Tournefort brought from the Levant, this 

 alleged species cannot be separated from A. alba. He therefore introduces 

 A. orientalis Tourn., Poir. Diet. vi. p. 508., and Lamb. Pin. ed. 1. ii. t. 39., 

 as a variety of A. alba. We have retained it as a species (No. 2.), though 

 we have great doubts as to its distinctness. 



The general aspect of the white spruce is much lighter than that of any 

 other species of the genus. The bark is considerably lighter in colour than 



