472 CONIFERS. (pine family.) 



ward. — A slender tree, of no value as timber, when young very handsome, 

 but short-lived. Leaves 6" - 10" in length, narrower and lighter green above 

 than those of the European Silver Fir. Also called Balm-of-Gilead Fir. Canada 

 balsam is drawn from blisters in the bark of this and the next species. — A sub- 

 alpine state on the Green Mountains, &c, has shorter or oblong, stunted cones, 

 and approaches the next. 



5. A. Fr&seri, Pursh. (Fraser's or Southern Balsam Fir.) Cones 

 small (1'- 2' long), oblong-ovate ; the. bracts oblong-wedge-shaped, the short-pointed 

 upper part much projecting and reflexed. (A. balsamifera, Miclix. Fl.) — Moun- 

 tains of Penn., Virginia, and southward on the highest Alleghanies. — Foliage, 

 &c. nearly as in the last. 



3. LAEIX, Tourn. Larch. 



Catkins lateral, terminating short spurs on the branches of the preceding 

 year, short or globular, developed in early spring ; the sterile from leafless buds ; 

 the fertile mostly with leaves below. Anther-cells opening transversely. Pol- 

 len-grains simple, globular. Cones as in Spruce, the scales persistent. — Leaves 

 needle-shaped, soft, deciduous, all foliaceous, very many in a fascicle developed 

 in early spring from lateral scaly and globular buds, and scattered along the 

 developed shoots of the season. Fertile catkins crimson or red in flower. ( The 

 ancient name.) 



1. L. Americana, Michx. (American or Black Larch. Tamarack. 

 Hackmatack.) Leaves short; cones ovoid (6" -9" long), of few rounded 

 scales, arranged in f order. (Pinus pendula, Ait. P.. microcarpa, Lambert.) — 

 Swamps, New England to Penn. and Wisconsin, and (chiefly) northward. — A 

 slender tree, with heavy, close-grained wood, horizontal branches, and more 

 slender and usually shorter leaves than the European Larch ; — which is a 

 handsomer tree, and has the scales of its larger cones arranged in the order 2 8 j. 



4. THUJA, Tourn. Arbor Vit^e. 



Flowers mostly monoecious on different branches, in very small terminal ovoid 

 catkins. Stamens with a scale-like filament or connective, bearing 4 anther- 

 cells. Fertile catkins of few imbricated scales, fixed by the base, each bearing 

 2 erect ovules, dry and spreading at maturity. Cotyledons 2. — Small ever- 

 green trees, with very flat 2-ranked spray, on which the small and appresscd 

 persistent leaves are closely imbricated : these arc of two sorts, on different or 

 successive branchlets ; the one awl-shaped ; the other scale-like, blunt, short, and 

 adnate to the branch. (Guia, Qva, or Qveia, the ancient name of some resin- 

 bearing evergreen.) 



1. T. OCCidentalis, L. (American Arbor Vit^:.) Leaves appressed- 

 imbricated in 4 rows on the 2-cdgcd branchlets ; scales of the cones pointless ; 

 seeds broadly winged all round. — Swamps and cool rocky banks: common 

 from Penn. northward, where it forms extensive "cedar-swamps," and is called 

 White Cedar: rare southward along the Alleghanies. May, June. — Tree 

 20° -50° high, yielding a pungent aromatic oil : wood light, but very durable. 



