WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. 431 



North America, especially towards the north-west of the continent. It 

 was found by Douglas, and is a very handsome tree, and hardy. It is 

 growing well on the Wass estate on several soils and situations, but is 

 making most progress on a rich loam soil. The foliage is of a light 

 silvery colour underneath, while the upper portion is a bright green. 



Abies nigra (Black Spruce, Michaux). This is a native of the more 

 northern regions of North America, where it attains a height of from 

 seventy to ninety feet. It grows naturally in moist soils. The foliage 

 is very dark, from which it derives its name. 



Abies Orientulis (Oriental Spruce Fir, Pirret). This is a very tall- 

 growing tree, and indigenous to the countries bordering along the shores 

 of the Black Sea. It is said to form large forests in the neighbourhood 

 of Trebizond, on the south-eastern shores of the Black Sea. It very much 

 resembles the common spruce, but the leaves of the Oricntalis are 

 shorter than the common spruce, and lighter in colour. 



Abies Pattoniana (Jeffrey). This was found by Jeffrey on the 

 Caxadus Mountains in California, at a latitude of 42 N., and at an 

 elevation of over five thousand feet above sea-level. Jeffrey describes 

 the timber as being very similar to that of the larch ; and if so, it may 

 be expected to become a useful timber-tree. It was found in its native 

 quarters growing best on a moist loam soil. 



PICEA. 



Picea balsamea (Balm of Gilead Silver Fir, London). This is a native 

 of North America, found growing on thin soils, and chiefly on the sides 

 of mountains. The foliage is a dark green above with a silvery tinge 

 beneath. The cones are of a purple colour. When young, this is a 

 very handsome tree ; but when it attains an age of from thirty to forty 

 years in this country, it gets stunted, and, generally speaking, does not 

 thrive well afterwards ; the points of the shoots become of a dead 

 appearance, and also very thick and unnatural-looking. I am of opinion 

 that if this tree were cultivated on our poorest soils, it would thrive 

 much better than it at present does on rich soils, on which it is usually 

 planted. 



Picea bracteata. This is a native of California, and was found by Dr 

 Coulter on the mountains near Santa Lucia, at an elevation of six thou- 

 sand feet above the level of the sea, in latitude 36 N. Mr William 

 Sobb, a botanical collector, found it growing luxuriantly in ravines of 

 the mountains near to San Francisco, where he states it attains a height 

 of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. The trunk grows as 

 straight as an arrow, the branches at the bottom spreading out to some 

 distance and gradually becoming shorter to the top, thus forming a taper- 



