44 WILSON EXPEDITION TO CHINA 



Abies Faxoniana is the common species in north-western Szech'uan where it 

 forms extensive forests. The wood is soft and of Uttle value. 



Pictures of this tree and the cones will be found under Nos. 0287, 0304, 0313 of 

 the collection of Wilson's photographs. 



It is named for Mr. Charles E. Faxon, the distinguished botanical artist of the 

 Arnold Arboretum. 



Abies recurvata Masters in Jour. Linn. Soc. XXXVII. 423 (1906). — 

 Patschke in Bot. Jahrh. XLVIII. 642, fig. 3, 3 (1913). 



Western Szech'uan: valley of Min river, south of Sungpan 

 Ting, forests, alt. 2300-3000 m., August and October 1910 (No. 4057; 

 tree 15-40 m. tall, girth 1-5 m.); same locality, September 1903 

 (Veitch Exped. No. 3021, type); Kwa-tsze-ling, west of the Min 

 River valley, forests, alt. 2800-3300 m., abundant, October 1910 

 (No. 4057; tree 20-40 m. tall, girth 1-5 m.); west and near Wen- 

 ch'uan Hsien, forests, alt. 3000-3600 m., October 1910 (No. 4051; 

 tree 20-30 m. tall, girth 2-4 m.). 



This remarkably distinct Silver Fir is abundant on the mountains near the 

 Min River between Mao-chou and Sungpan Ting, forming extensive forests. 

 The trees range from 20 to 40 m. or more in height, with a trunk girth of from 

 2 to 5 m. The habit is pyramidal, becoming fiat-headed in old trees and in those 

 exposed to strong winds. The bark on the trunk is rather rough and varies from 

 dark grey to reddish brown; the shoots are glabrous, shining and pale yellow-grey. 

 The winter-buds are ovoid, usually somewhat pointed, and very resinous. The 

 leaves are strongly recurved, either shining green on both surfaces or very glaucous 

 on the upper (ventral) side. On young trees and on adventitious shoots the leaves 

 are twice the normal length and very pungent. The cones which are produced in 

 clusters on the topmost branches are short-stalked, oblong-ovoid, from 5 to 9 cm. 

 long, and from 3 to 4 cm. wide; they abruptly taper to the peduncle, and are flat- 

 tened or somewhat pointed at the apex, smooth, with bracts completely hidden, 

 and are slightly resinous and intense violet-purple in color when growing, but 

 change after they are ripe and dry to grey-browTi. The wood, for a Silver Fir, is of 

 good quality, being fairly close-grained and durable and is valued for general build- 

 ing purposes. In all respects this species is one of the most desirable of the fam- 

 ily, and it was well worth a long journey to introduce it into cultivation. 



For the original description fragments of some old cones only were available 

 and we have given here further details to supplement Master's description. 



Pictures of this tree and the cones will be found under Nos. 0322, 0324, 0325, 

 0326 of the collection of Wilson's photographs. 



Abies chensiensis Van Tieghem in Bull. Soc. Bot. France, XXXVIII. 

 413 (1891), descriptione valde incompleta. — Franchet in Jour, de 

 Bot. XIII. 256 (1899). 



Abies sp. Franchet in Nouv. Arch. Mus. Paris. s6t. 2, VII. 100 (PI. David. I. 



290) (1884). 

 Abies firma Masters in Jour. Linn. Soc. XXVI. 557 (non Siebold & Zucca- 



rini) (1902), quoad specimen e Shensi. 



