120 ABIES 



A. BRACTEATA, NuttalL SANTA LUCIA FlR. 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 4740 ; A. venusta, Koch?) 



A tree 100 to 150 ft. high, of pyramidal form, but abruptly narrowed near the 

 top into a slender, steeple-like apex ; young shoots pale green, perfectly glabrous; 

 winter-buds \ to f in. long, slenderly conical, the scales being loose, pale brown, 

 non-resinous. Leaves flat, stiff, and spine-tipped ; i to 2% ins. long, ^ in. 

 wide ; dark shining green, with two blue-white bands of stomata beneath ; the 

 leaves are aggregated into two sets, one each side the shoot, leaving a broad. 

 V-shaped opening between. Cones 3 to 4 ins. long, 2 to 2^ ins. wide, egg- 

 shaped, purplish brown, each bract terminated by a slender, stiff, spine-tipped 

 point, i to 2 ins. long. 



Native of, and confined to, the Santa Lucia mountains, California ; discovered 

 in 1832 ; introduced by W. Lobb in 1853. I* ' s m several respects the most 

 remarkable of all firs : its pyramidal spire-topped shape and its buds are quite 

 unlike those of any other species ; its spine-tipped, never notched, leaves are 

 comparable only with those of A. cephalonica ; and, chief of all, the bayonet- 

 like terminations of the bracts projecting all round the cone are only seen in 

 this species. There are a number of trees 50 to 80 ft. high in England ; but the 

 tree generally is not a success, owing to its susceptibility to late spring frosts. 

 For this reason an elevated situation is best for it. 



A. CEPHALQNICA, London. GREEK FIR. 



(Gardeners' Chronicle, 1884, i., fig. 105.) 



A tree up to 100 ft. high ; young shoots smooth, shining brown ; buds 

 reddish, resinous. Leaves standing out nearly at right angles to, and all round 

 the stem, but more densely above than below ; the lower ones are the longer 

 and all have the green surface uppermost ; they are stiff, sharply pointed ; to 

 \\ ins. long, ^ to T ^ in. wide; rich glossy green above, and with two well- 

 defined stomatic bands beneath. Cones 4 to 6 ins. long, ij to if ins. wide, 

 cylindric, velvety brown, with the bracts protruded beyond the scale and bent 

 downward. 



Native of the mountains of Greece; introduced in 1824. It thrives remark- 

 ably well in Britain, the largest tree according to Elwes being at Barton, Bury 

 St Edmund's, now nearly 100 ft. high and over 13 ft. in girth. It is one of the 

 most distinct of all silver firs in its sharp almost spine-tipped leaves standing 

 out all round the shoot. These two characters, with its smooth shoots and 

 resinous buds, render it easily recognisable. 



Var. APOLLINIS, Beissner (A. Apollinis, Link}. In this form the leaves are 

 more crowded on the upper side of the shoot, leaving comparatively few beneath ; 

 they are thicker, more abruptly pointed, sometimes rounded at the apex, and 

 more inclined to point forwards. There is a gpod example of this form in the 

 Botanic Garden at Padua, and one in Shrublands Park near Ipswich. Inter- 

 mediate ones between it and the type exist. ^There are often two or three 

 short lines of stomata on the upper surface of the leaf near the tip. 



A. VILMORINII, Masters. VILMORIN'S FIR. A hybrid between A. 

 cephalonica and A. Pinsapo, the latter the seed-bearer. Only one fertile seed 

 was produced, but from it has developed the fine tree at Verrieres, near Paris, 

 now about 50 ft. high. Its leaves are intermediate, but more like those of A. 

 Pinsapo ; they resemble those of A. cephalonica in having stomata on the lower 

 surface only. The cross was made by the late Henri de Vilmorin, in 1867. 

 Many seedlings, mostly intermediate between it and one or other of the 

 parents, have been raised at Verrieres. 



