192 THE BOOK OF EVERGREENS. 



and is perhaps the plant first discovered by Menzies. It 

 is quite distinct from the species, being smaller in size, with 

 longer and darker leaves, and with broader, shorter, and 

 less pointed scales ; the bracts also more contracted. 



Var. fastigiata, Knight. Differs from the species in 

 being more compact and conical in shape, and with ascend- 

 ing branches. 



Var. Standishiana, Gordon. In the supplement to 

 Gordon's Pinetum, this new variety is described at some 

 length as very distinct and desirable, having large, dark, 

 glossy green foliage, quite silvery below, but with the 

 habit and general outline of A. DouglasiL It originated 

 in Standish's Nursery, at Bagshot, and is not yet intro- 

 duced into our collections. 



NEW SPECIES OF HEMLOCK SPRUCE. 



18. A. Mertensiana, Lindley. CALIFORNIA^ HEMLOCK 

 SPRUCE. Syn. A. heterophylla, Rafnesqite ; A. taxifolia, 

 Jeffrey ; Tsuga Mertensiana, Carriere. Leaves, from -A- 

 to f of an inch long, flat, obtuse, crowded, bright green 

 above, slightly glaucous below. Branches and branchlets, 

 slender, drooping, and very numerous. Cones, f of an 

 inch long, ovate, with few, persistent, reniform, entire 

 scales, and small, pale brown seeds, with a short ovate 

 wing. 



This new species was first named and described by 

 Bongard, the Russian botanist, who bestowed upon it the 

 title of Piims Mertensiana, and gave Sitka as its locality. 

 It is found, however, in different parts of northern Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon, constituting, according to some writ- 

 ers, one-half the timber in the neighborhood. 



Its height is from 100 to 150 feet, and xmlike the 

 common Hemlock Spruce it forms a roundish-conical head ; 



