The Pine Family 137 



work for making permanent mounts, and in surgery for ap- 

 plication to wounds. 



The wood is light and soft, pale brown or white, and is fre- 

 quently sawn into lumber and used in making packing boxes. 



2. ALPINE FIR. Abies lasiocarpa. (Hooker) Nuttall. 



This is a mountain species, closely resembling the balsam 

 except in form. The leaves are light bluish-green, short, densely 

 crowded and often standing almost erect, owing to the twist 

 at the base. The branches are short, the lower with a tendency 

 to droop. The whorls of branches 

 are close together, owing to the slow 

 growth of the tree, the whole tree 

 thus presenting a very narrow and 

 compact cone instead of the open 



broad-based cone of its eastern rel- 



PIG. 12. Alpine Fir. 

 ative. The bark on young stems 



is smooth, thin and nearly white but becomes thicker on older 

 trunks and broken into irregular reddish-brown scales. In 

 color, size and form the cones closely resemble those of the 

 balsam, and the wood is similar and little used for commercial 

 purposes. 



The Alpine fir is distributed on the slopes of all the moun- 

 tains of British Columbia and Alberta. At high altitudes 

 it is reduced to a mere shrub, but at lower levels is a graceful 

 and rather lofty tree. It has been little used in cultivation 

 owing, no doubt, to its slow growth, but its compact, narrow, 

 conical form makes it present a pleasing variation when mixed 

 with other conifers. 



The juice of this fir is also a source of Canada balsam. 



3. AMABILIS FIR. Abies amabilis. (Loudon) Forbes. 



The name of this fir means lovely, and if a tree can be called 

 lovely, it is well deserved^ History does not record the fact. 



