90 Nr. 2. CG. H. OSTENFELD and C. SYRACH LARSEN: 
attain a height of 12—15 m. (SARGENT: 1918, p. 9), andin 
Alaska a height of about 10 m. is reached (KELLOGG in 
Forest Serv. Bull. No. 81, 1910). Statements from Minne- 
sota are extant of its attaining a height of 35—40 m. in 
the districts around the Great Lakes, where, as already 
stated, it grows best; HENRY has there measured a specimen 
24,3 m. in height with a girth of about 1,4 m. (HENRY & 
ELwes, II, 1907, p. 393), but as a rule, its extreme height 
is given as being only 18—20 m. (SARGENT: 1921, p. 31; 
REHDER: 1927, p. 52). 
The tree possesses both in its earlier and its later years 
a pyramidal crown, owing to the shortness of its lateral 
branches. Branches of the second order are generally pen- 
dulous, and contribute towards giving the tree its charac- 
teristic appearance. The bark presents a peculiarity in 
peeling off in small, thin flakes in a manner somewhat 
similar to that of Picea abies. The leaves are green, or a 
light blueish-green, narrow, and 2,5—3,5 cms. in length. 
The pronounced keel on the under-side gives them a 
triangular appearance, seen in transverse section. The young 
shoots are light-coloured, smooth, or with a slight down, 
the cones when flowering varying in colour from light red 
to green. 
The mature cone presents the most pronounced charac- 
teristic of the species, and varies only to a very slight 
degree. The cone-scales are thick, bright, smooth, and 
distinctly arcuate, 12—15 of them together forming the 
1,5 cms. long cone. The bracts are '/1—*/2 as long as the 
cone-scales, and vary somewhat in shape, the mucro being 
either rather shorter or rather longer, and the angle between 
it and the rest of the free margin of the bract more 
or less pronounced; the angle is often a distinct right-angle. 
