426 



Conifercz A dies. 



Some authors go even farther and unite this with Plnus, and 

 include Cedrus, Larix, etc. The species are confined to the 

 northern hemisphere, and especially abundant in the temperate, 

 less common in the arctic and warmer regions. The derivation 

 of the generic name is obscure. 



1. Leaves needle-shaped or linear, scattered all around the 

 shoots. Cones pendulous when mature. ABIES and TSUGA. 



1. A. excclsa (fig. 217). Norway Spruce or Spruce Fir. 

 This handsome hardy evergreen tree is unsurpassed in the 



rich warm hue of its 

 dense dark green foliage 

 and the regularity of its 

 pyramidal or conical out- 

 line. It is as familiar 

 as our commonest native 

 trees, and therefore we 

 are justified in passing- 

 it by without description. 

 There are numerous va- 

 rieties, a few of which 

 are very remarkable and 

 worthy of a place in even 

 a small collection. The 

 most curious and inter- 

 esting are as follows : 

 Clanbrasiliana, a dwarf 

 slow - growing spreading 

 densely - branched shrub 

 with short closely-packed 

 leaves, never exceeding 

 3 or 4 feet in height; 

 pygmcea, or nana, is 

 a still more diminutive 

 form, about a foot high ; 

 pendula has graceful 

 drooping branches ; in- 

 verta has pendulous branches and larger foliage than the type ; 

 monstrosa has very stout branches and large foliage ; pyra- 

 midalis is a slow-growing dwarf variety of conical shape ; and 

 horizontalis is of irregular dwarf habit with long trailing 

 branches. We have by no means exhausted the list of varie- 



Fig. 217. Abies excelsa. 



