BRITISH FOREST TREES 83 



2. SPRUCE, NORWAY SPRUCE, OR SPRUCE FIR (Pinus abies, 

 L. = Pinus picea, Du Roi = Pinus excelsa^ Lam. = Abies excelsa, 

 D.C. = PICEA EXCELSA, Link). 



Distribution. In this respect the spruce is inferior only to 

 the Scots pine. It extends from latitude 69 N. through- 

 out the whole of northern and central Europe, southwards 

 to the slopes of the Alps, Cevennes and Pyrenees. It forms 

 extensive forests in Scandinavia, Finland, Lapland, and 

 Russia, although its growth there is not to be compared with 

 that attained on the hilly land and mountain masses in 

 central Germany. It seems not to have been indigenous to 

 Scotland or England, for no fossil traces of it have been 

 found, and no historical record exists of it having ever formed 

 forests on the hills of ancient Britain ; it was probably only 

 introduced toward the middle of the sixteenth century. 



In France, as well as in Scotland on an altogether smaller 

 scale, it has been cultivated to a much less extent than other 

 conifers, and in Spain, Italy and Greece it is seldom met with 

 forming forests. The eastern limit of the species is not easy 

 to fix, as it gradually^Herges into another variety, the Siberian 

 spruce (Picea obovata}. 



It ascends the Harz mountains to about 3,300 feet, the 

 Black Forest and the mountains of Silesia to 3500-4000 

 feet, the Bavarian Alps to nearly 6,000 feet, and the central 

 Alpine ranges to over 6,600 feet. In Germany and Switzer- 

 land the spruce is the principal forest tree on all mountain 

 ranges and hilly tracts, often forming pure forests over large 

 tracts of country, whilst below it there is a girdle of decid- 

 uous broad-leaved trees into whose domain it is always 

 trying to extend its frontiers. 



On the lower hills it is frequently found mixed with the 

 silver fir and the beech, and at higher elevations in lower 



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