LXXVII. CONI'FER^E: PI'CEA. 1037 



leaves simple, 2-ranked, exstipulate, evergreen; linear. Flowers yellowish. 

 Trees, natives of Europe, Asia, and North America, generally in regions 

 more temperate than those in which the species of spruce abound. Re- 

 markable for the regularity and symmetry of their pyramidal heads ; readily 

 distinguished from the genus J v bies, by their leaves being more decidedly 

 in two rows ; by their cones being upright, and having the scales deciduous ; 

 and by the seeds being irregular in form. The nucleus of the seed is ex- 

 posed at the inner angle, through a considerable opening in the outer testa, 

 as if the junction of the two sides had been ruptured by the rapid enlarge- 

 ment of the nucleus. (D. DonJ) In Britain, with the exception of P. 

 pectinata, they are solely to be considered as ornamental trees. 

 The species in British gardens may be thus arranged : 



A. Natives of Europe, Siberia, and the North-west of Asia. 



1. pectinata. 3. Pinsdpo. 5. Pichta. 



2. cephalonica. 4. Nordmamwawa. 



B. Natives of North America. 

 6. balsamea. 7. Fraseri. 



C. Natives of California. 

 8. grandis. 9. amabilis. 10. nobilis. 11. bracteata. 



D. Natives of Mexico. 

 12. religiosa. 13. hirtella. 



E. Natives of Nepal. 

 14. Webbidna. 15. Ptndrow. 



A. Natives of Europe, Siberia, and the North-west of Asia. 

 1 1. P. PECTIN A'T A. The Comb-like-leaved Silver Fir. 



Synonymes. yfbies of Pliny ; Pinus Picea Lrn. Sp. PI. 1420. ; P. ^Tbies Du Hoi Harbk. ed. Pott, 

 t. 2. p. 133. ; /Tbies alba Mill. Diet. No. 1. ; A. Taxi ftlio Tourn. Inst. p. 585. ; A. vulgaris Pair. 

 Diet. Encyc. 6. p. 514. ; A. pectinata Dec. Fl. Ft: 2. p. 275. ; A. texifblia Hort. Par. ; A. Picea 

 Lindl. in Penn. Cyc. No 1. ; A. excelsa Link Abhand., &c., jahr 1827, p. 182. ; Spanish Fir ; Sapin 

 commun, Sapin S Feuilles d'lf, Sapin blanc, Sapin argente, Sapin en Peigne, Sapin de Normandie, 

 Fr. ; weiss Tanne, Edeltanne, Get: ; Abete argentine, Ital. 



Engravings. Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 1. t. 40. ; N. Du Ham., 5. t. 82. ; the plate of this species in Arb. 

 Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; our Jig. 1939. of the natural size, and fig. 1938. to our usual scale. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves solitary, flat, obtuse ; 2-ranked, with their points 

 turned up. Cones axillary, cylindrical, erect ; scales with a long dorsal 

 bractea. Anthers with a short crest, with two teeth. Buds short, egg- 

 shaped, blunt ; of a reddish yellow, with from 16 to 20 blunt scales. Leaves 

 from i in. to 1 in. long, stiff, turned up at the points ; of a shining dark 

 green above, and with two lines of silvery white on each side of the midrib 

 beneath. Cones from Gin. to Sin. long, and from lin. to 2 in. broad ; 

 cylindrical ; green when young, afterwards reddish, and when ripe brown. 

 Scale in. to lin. long, and lin. broad. Seeds variously angular, fin. 

 long, and T 3 in. broad. Cotyledons 5. A lofty tree. Central Europe, 

 and the West and North of Asia ; rising on mountains to the commence- 

 ment of the zone of the Scotch pine. Height 80 ft. to 100 ft., rarely 150 ft. 

 Introduced in 1603. The blossoms appear in May, and the cones are ma- 

 tured in the October of the following year. 

 Varieties. 



1 P. p. 2 tortuosa Booth. Branches and branchlets remarkably twisted 



or crooked. 



1 P. p. Sfo/iis variegdtis. Leaves variegated. 

 1 P. p. 4 'cinerea. Pinus Picea cinerea JBaum. Cat. ed. 1835. A low 



plant with greyish bark, not yet introduced. 



The silver fir is the noblest tree of its genus in appearance, and the only 

 species worthy of cultivation in Britain for its timber. The rate of growth 



