118 ABIES 



A. AMABILIS, Forbes. WHITE FIR. 



A tree up to 250 ft. high in nature ; bark on young or middle-aged trees 

 whitish ; young shoots downy ; winter buds small, globose, very resinous. 

 Leaves crowded at the sides and on the upper surface of the shoot, which they 

 completely hide from above ; f to \\ ins. long, ^ to ^ in. wide, broadest 

 towards the apex ; the uppermost leaves are considerably the shorter, and 

 point forwards, the lower ones spread horizontally ; all are rich glossy green 

 and deeply grooved above, vividly blue-white and with broad bands of stomata 

 beneath ; apex notched. Cones rich purple, 4 to 6 ins. long, 2 to 2^ ins. wide, 

 tapering slightly towards the rounded top ; bracts enclosed. 



Native of British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington ; discovered by 

 Douglas in 1825, introduced five years later. This beautiful fir, which in open 

 situations clothes itself to the ground with gracefully drooping branches, has 

 not been a success in British gardens, and very few specimens of any notable 

 size exist there. Some years ago I saw several healthy trees in Scotland. 

 It is sometimes confused with A. Nordmanniana, which it resembles in several 

 respects, notably in the arrangement of the leaves on the shoot ; but the 

 winter buds, looking like globes of resin, easily distinguish it, and the leaves 

 have an odour like orange peel. 



A. BALSAMEA, Miller. BALSAM FIR. 



A tree 50 to 70 ft. high ; young shoots downy ; winter buds red, very 

 resinous, roundish. Leaves on young trees in two opposite sets spreading 

 horizontally, | to i ins. long, - to -^ in. wide, the uppermost leaves much 

 the shorter ; rounded or notched at the apex, glossy green above, with two 

 whitish bands beneath each composed of four to eight lines of stomata. On cone- 

 bearing shoots the leaves are often pointed (sometimes sharply) as well as 

 rounded or slightly notched, and they are stiffer, broader (jV in. wide), and 

 curved upwards rather than arranged in two sets. Cones 2\ to 3^ ins. long, 

 i to i ins. wide, dark purple or olive-green, the bracts either quite enclosed 

 within the scales or slightly exposed. 



Native of Eastern N. America from Labrador to Virginia ; introduced 

 by Bishop Compton in 1697. Although trees in Scotland have attained 

 considerable dimensions, notably at Keillour in Perthshire, it is usually short- 

 lived, and one of the biggest failures among firs in this country. The only 

 tree I know of any size near London is on'the lawn in front of Miss Willmott's 

 house at Great Warley, Essex, 30 to 40 ft. high. The species is closely 

 allied to A. Fraseri, under which the distinctions are referred to. It yields a 

 transparent balsamic resin, known as Balm of Gilead, or Canadian Balsam. 

 The leaves are curiously brittle and snap when bent. 



Var. HUDSONIA, Sargent. DWARF BALSAM FIR. A curious, very dwarf 

 mountain form rarely more than 2 ft. high, which never bears cones. 

 Leaves about \ in. long. Found originally on the White mountains of 

 New Hampshire, U.S.A. 



A. BRACHYPHYLLA, Maximowicz. NlKKO FIR. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 7114.) 



A tree 100, occasionally 130, ft. high in Japan ; young shoots without down, 

 but corrugated with the wrinkled protuberances on which the leaves are seated, 

 the groove between the leaf-bases being deep ; buds resinous. Leaves \ to 

 i^ ins. long, about y"g- in. wide ; slightly notched at the flatfish apex, dark bright 

 green above, with two broad, blue-white stomatic bands beneath. The under- 



