GENUS ABIES. 5 



about 2^ inches long, by fully i inch in diameter, the bracts 

 varying much, both in shape and length. The rate of growth 

 is slow in this country, although instances have been recorded 

 in which fully i foot has annually been added to the height 

 for nearly fifty years ; and a specimen in Haddingtonshire, 

 when swept away by the great flood in the Tyne, in 1891, was 

 nearly 70 feet high, and contained fully 140 feet of timber. 

 It succeeds best in damp, rich soils, and when the atmosphere 

 is comparatively still, and charged with moisture. The well- 

 known Canada balsam is the resin which exudes from the 

 bark of this tree. 



A. baSsamea hudsonica is a dwarf and sterile form 

 found at high elevations, but is of no particular interest as an 

 ornamental shrub. 



A. brachyphylla, Maximowicz. Short-leaved Japanese 

 Fir. {Synonyms: Finns brachyphylla, Parlatore; Picea brachy- 

 phylla,Goxdon\ Abies Veitchii dixxd Picea Veitchii, Hort; Abies 

 homolepis, Lindley.) Saghalien and Japan. 1 870. This is well 

 worthy of attention, being of free growth, highly ornamental, 

 and perfectly hardy. It is handsome in habit, having regular 

 whorls of somewhat rigid, horizontally placed branches, with 

 densely arranged small leaves that are deep green above and 

 intensely silvery beneath. The purplish cones are cylindrical, 

 3-J inches long by \\ inches wide, and smooth, by reason 

 of the non-protruding scale bracts. The stem grows stout 

 and straight, and when the tree is planted in light, dampish 

 soil and a sheltered site, the upward rate of growth is from 

 18 inches to 24 inches per year. There cannot be a doubt 

 that in the present species we have a highly ornamental tree 

 and one that will yet turn out of value for forest planting, 

 and every year it seems to improve and become a greater 

 favourite with lovers of hardy conifers. The largest tree I 

 have seen is growing at Claremont, in Surrey. It was planted 

 by H.R.H. Princess Beatrice, on 7th April, 1883, and is now 

 considerably over 25 feet in height, the branches covering a 

 spread of fully 18 feet in diameter. 



A. bracteata, Nuttall. Bristle Cone Fir. {Synonyms: 



