CHAP. CXIJI. 



PICEA. 



3. P. BALSA V MEA L. The Balm of Gilead, or American, Silver Fir. 



Synonymes. Plnus balsamea Lin. Sp. PI., 1421., Syst., ed. 

 Reich., 4. p. 176., Smith in Sees's Cyc. t No. 26., Gron. Firg., 

 . p. 152., Wang. Beit., p. 40., Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., t. 41., 

 Du Roi Harbk., ed. Pott., 2. p. 144. ; P. ^f hies balsamea 

 Marsh. Arb. Amer., p. 102. ; /Tbies Jlaxi fulio, &c., #or*. 

 An-;/., 2. p. 2., 7)w Hflw. ^r*., 1. p. 3., Pluk. Aim , 2. t. 121., 

 A. balsammea N. Du Ham., ~>. U-295. ; .4. balsamffera Michx. 

 A r . ^/wer. %/., 3. p. 191. ; BalsartTFir ; le Baume de Gilead, 

 le Sapin Baumrer de Gilead, Fr. ; Balsam Fichte, Balsam 

 Tanne Ger. 



Engravings. Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 1. 1. 41. ; Pluck. Aim., 2. 1. 121. 

 f. 1. ; N. Du Ham., 5. t. 83., f. 2. ; Mich. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 

 1.50. ; and our Jig. 2242. to our usual scale, and Jigs. 2240. 

 and 2241. of the natural size. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves solitary, silvery beneath, 

 apex emarginate, or entire ; somewhat recurved, 

 and spreading. Cones cylindrical, violet-co- 

 loured ; and pointing 

 upwards. (MichxJ) 

 Leaves & in. long. 

 Cones 4 in. to 4 in. 

 long, and ^ in. broad; 

 scales from f in. to 

 f- in. broad, and f- in. 

 long. Seed, with the 

 wing, | in. long, and 

 f- in. broad. Seed 

 very small, irregular; 

 about half the size 

 of that of the common silver fir. Cotyledons,?. 

 A tree, introduced in 1696. In Britain, sel- 

 dom above 20 ft. high ; flowering in May, 

 and ripening its cones in autumn. 



2240 



Variety. 



P. b. 2 longifolia Booth has leaves longer 

 than the sheaths, with the branches 

 somewhat more upright. 



2241 



Description, $c. A pyramidal tree, in general appearance resembling the 

 silver fir of Europe ; but seldom found, even in America, above 20 ft. or 30 ft. 

 in height, and not of more than the same number of years in duration. The 

 trunk tapers from 1 ft. in diameter at the surface of the ground, to 7 in. or 

 8 in. at the height of 6 ft. When standing alone, it forms a regular pyramidal 

 head, abundantly furnished with branches and cones. The leaves are 6 or 8 

 lines long; of a bright but dark green above, and a silvery white beneath. 

 The male catkins are numerous, crowded round the shoots of the preceding 

 season, and more persistent than in the silver fir. The cones are nearly 

 cylindrical, of a darker purple than in the silver fir; 4 in. or 5 in. long, 1 in. 

 in diameter, tapering towards the upper extremity, and generally sprinkled 

 with resin, at least on one side. The bark is thickly interspersed with 

 small vesicles, containing a clear limpid resin. The wood is light, yel- 

 lowish, and slightly resinous. The rate of growth, in the climate of London, 

 is rather more rapid than that of the silver fir, the tree attaining the height of 

 10i ft. in as many years, and arriving at maturity in 20 or 25 years ; soon after 

 which it dies, the symptoms of its decay being, as observed in Lawson's 

 Manual, an apparent overflow of sap, and an unnatural thickening of the ter- 

 minal shoots ; which may probably arise from the richness of the soil and the 

 warmness of the situation in which the tree is planted. The balm of Gilead 

 fir was cultivated by Bishop Compton in 1697; and its seeds being gene- 

 rally imported, and sometimes ripened, in this country, it is easily procured in 



7 M 3 



