1030 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



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 yibies 

 8mith/H. Ledebour, he says, has committed the 

 same error in regard to his P. obovj'ita, as Dr. 

 Wallich did in the case of ^'bies !Snuthian ; that 

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

 the other paits of his description, the tree must 

 belong to the genus J'bies. 



B. Natives of North America. 



i. 4. A. a'lba Michx. The white Spruce Fir. 



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



Syno7iymes. Pinus &lba Ait. Hurt. Kciv. 3. p. 371. ; P. l;ixa Ehrh. Bcitr. 3. p. 24. ; P. canadensis 



Du Hot Harbh-. p. 124. ; A. curvifblia Hort. ; single Spruce, Amer. ; Epinette blanche, Canada ; 



Sapinette blanche, Fr. 

 Engr<ivings. Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 1. t. Sfi. : Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 148. ; the plate of this tree 



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



Sjiec. Char,, S^c. Leaves somewhat glaucous, scattered round the branches, 

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

 entire margins. {Michx.) Cones from If in. to 2iin. long, and from fin. 

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

 the wing, | in. long, -5^ in. broad. Leaves f in. long ; on the tree at Drop- 

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



1928. A. 41ba. 



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

 mountains. Height 40 ft. to 50 ft. Introduced in 1700. It flowers in 

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



Varietij. 



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



apparently somewhat distinct. 

 Other Varieties. Loiseleur Deslongchamps states that, according to the 

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

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

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

 as a variety of ^4. 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 



i 



