WOODY PLANTS FOR NEW ENGLAND 5 



is a taproot which may at times make their transplanting difficult. The 

 species listed are those which seem to be most amenable to general garden con- 

 ditions. Any of them should be used only if a tall, stately conifer with well- 

 separated whorls of branches is needed. 



Abies cilicica ClLICIAN FlR 



At maturity this species becomes a hundred-foot, gray-barked, pyramidal, 

 evergreen tree with a lower-branch spread of twenty or more feet. Its leaves, 

 green above and streaked white below, are so arranged that a noticeable V- 

 shaped depression appears on the upper surfaces of the branches. A pleasing, 

 large tree which has proved successful in parts of New England as a substitute 

 for the less satisfactory A. Nordmanniana. 



ABIES CONCOLOR White Fir 



This is probably the best known and most adaptable of the Firs. Although, 

 in its native Colorado, it may become a bluish green leaved evergreen tree 

 growing to a height of two hundred feet or more, few such specimens are in 

 cultivation. There are garden varieties based on the differing color (dull 

 green to silvery-white) of the upward-curved, two- to three-inch leaves. 

 Other varieties are determined by habit (globose, dwarf, pyramidal, etc.) or leaf 

 size. However, this species is seldom propagated vegetatively, and most 

 cultivated plants are but selected seedlings which have been picked for their 

 individual appearance. The common practice of shearing small nursery plants 

 into compactness may permanently cripple the lowest branches of resulting 

 large specimen trees. 



Abies Fraseri FRASER FlR 



Being of about the same size and aspect, this Alleghenian expression of 

 A. balsamea has little other garden value than to replace the Balsam Fir in 

 southern New England gardens. It will, in cultivation, hold its lower branches 

 better than the northern form. 



ABIES HOMOLEPIS (A. brachyphylla) Nikko Fir 



A hardy, dark-foliaged, hundred-foot, evergreen tree which has proved 

 satisfactory for cultivation in eastern gardens. Its upturned branches reach 

 out to form a broadly pyramidal, purple-coned tree which is handsome while 

 still very young. Rated as one of the best. 



ABIES VEITGHII Veitch Fir 



A species which also develops the pyramidal habit in quite young plants. 

 The crowded, blunt-tipped leaves, dark green above and with prominent white 

 bands beneath, are all turned toward the ends of the branches. A hardy 

 species of high rating for New England use. 



acanthopanax sieboldianus (A. pentaphyllus) Five-Leaved Aralia 



A prickly, arching, deciduous shrub which, when grown naturally, becomes 

 five to ten feet high. Since only the male plant is reported to be in cultivation, 

 the fruits are not seen in gardens. Here is a plant which will withstand con- 

 siderable shade and drought, can be pruned into a satisfactory hedge, and 

 transplants readily. It is sometimes attacked by aphids. 



Acer carpinifolium HORNBEAM MaPLE 



A round-headed, small, deciduous tree of not over thirty feet, which has 

 dense branching and foliage, resembling that of the Hornbeam, which in 

 autumn turns yellow. 



