492 CONIFERS. (PINE FAMILY.) 



oblong ( 10 - 20" long), mostly recurved, persistent, the rigid scales with a thin den- 

 ticulate edge. (Abies nigra, Poir.) Swamps and cold mountain woods, New 

 Eng. to Penn., central Mich., Minn., and northward, and south in the moun- 

 tains to Ga. A tree 40 - 70 high. Var. RtiBRA, Engelm. Leaves larger 

 and darker; cones larger, bright red-brown, more readily deciduous. 



2. P. alba, Link. (WHITE SPRUCE.) Branchlets glabrous; leaves more 

 slender, pale or glaucous; cones nodding, cylindrical (about 2' long), pale, de- 

 ciduous, the thinner scales with an entire edge. (Abies alba, Mlchx.)' 

 Northern New Eng. and N. Y. to L. Superior, and northward. A hand- 

 somer tree than n. 1, 50-150 high, in aspect more like a Balsam Fir. 



3. TSUGA, Carriere. HEMLOCK. 



Sterile flowers a subglobose cluster of stamens, from the axils of last year's 

 leaves, the long stipe surrounded by numerous bud-scales ; anthers tipped with 

 a short spur or knob, their confluent cells opening transversely ; pollen-grains 

 simple. Fertile catkins and cones on the end of last year's branchlets ; cones 

 maturing the first year, pendulous ; their scales thin, persistent. Leaves scat- 

 tered, flat, whitened beneath, appearing 2-ranked. (The Japanese name of 

 one of the species.) 



1. T. Canadensis, Carr. Leaves petioled, short-linear, obtuse (% long) ; 

 cones oval (6 - 8" long), of few thin scales much longer than the bracts. (Abies 

 Canadensis, Michx.) Mostly hilly or rocky woods, N. Scotia to Del., and along 

 the mountains to Ala., west to Mich, and Minn. A tall tree, with light and 

 spreading spray and delicate foliage, bright green above, silvery beneath. 



4. ABIES, Link. FIR. 



Sterile flowers from the axils of last year's leaves ; anthers tipped with a 

 knob, their cells bursting transversely ; pollen as in Pinus. Fertile catkins 

 and cones erect on the upper side of spreading branches ; cones maturing the 

 first year; their thin scales and mostly exserted bracts deciduous at maturity, 

 Seeds and bark with balsam-bearing vesicles. Leaves scattered, sessile, flat, 

 with the midrib prominent on the whitened lower surface, on horizontal 

 branches appearing 2-ranked. (The classical Latin name.) 



1. A. balsamea, Miller. (BALSAM or BALM-OF-GILEAD FIR.) Leaves 

 narrowly linear (6-10" long) ; cones cylindrical (2-4' long, V thick), violet- 

 colored ; the bracts obovate, serrulate, tipped with an abrupt slender point, shorter 

 than the scales. Damp woods and mountain swamps, Newf . to Penn., along' 

 the mountains to Va., west to Minn., and northward. A slender tree or at 

 high elevations a low or prostrate shrub. 



5. LARIX, Tourn. LARCH. 



Catkins lateral, terminating short spurs on branches of a year's growth or 

 more, short or globular, developed in early spring; the sterile from leafless 

 buds ; the fertile mostly with leaves below. Anther-cells opening transversely. 

 Pollen-grains simple, globular. Cones as in Spruce, the scales persistent. 

 Leaves needle-shaped, soft, deciduous, all foliaceous, very many in a fascicle 

 developed in early spring from lateral scaly and globular buds, and scattered 

 along the developed shoots of the season. Fertile catkins crimson or red in 

 flower. (The ancient name.) 



