ABIES, OR SPRUCE TIRS. 9 



below ; footstalks, twisted and placed on diamond - shaped 

 cushions along the shoots. Cones, rather more than two inches 

 long, and four in circumference ; scales, cartilaginous, loose, 

 obtuse - rhomboid and denticulate on the upper margins ; 

 bracteas, obsolete and linear ; seeds, cinnamon-coloured, two 

 lines long, with obovate wings four lines long. 



A large tree, found on the sacred mountain, Fusi-Yama, in 

 the province of Surunja, on the island of Nippon, in Japan, 

 at an elevation of from 6,000 to 7,000 feet, where it forms a 

 noble tree, with very small leaves, glaucous on the under side, 

 and blunt or emarginate (not mucronate) at the points, and flat, 

 not four-sided, like the true Spruces : wood used by the Japanese 

 for light house-work. 



It has been named in compliment to Rutherford Alcock, 

 Esq., the British Minister at the Court of Yeddo, in Japan, 

 and introduced in 1861, by Messrs. Veitch and Son, of Exeter. 



Page 13. 



Abies Brunoniana, Lindley, the Indian Hemlock Spruce. . 

 Syn. Picea Brunoniana, Spach. 



The Gorkhalees, in Nepal, call this tree " Thingia" (Yew), 

 or "Thingoori- Sulla" (fragrant Yew), and the Bhotiyas, 

 " Semadoong," which has a similar meaning ; but, according 

 to Professor Don, it is better known under the name of " Silloo- 

 Haterhee" (fragrant Fir), and found plentiful on the mountains 

 of Gosainthan, in Nepal, where its bark is much used for the 

 covering of sheds and out-houses. 



It is quite hardy, and by far the handsomest of all the Indian 

 Firs in a native state ; but its timber is of a very inferior quality, 

 and soon perishes if fully exposed to the weather. 



Page 15. 

 Abies Canadensis gracilis, Waterer, the Slender Hemlock 



Spruce. 

 This is a very singular-looking variety of the Hemlock 

 Spruce, on account of its slender shoots, thin appearance, and 

 small foliage. The leaves are linear, blunt-pointed, glossy 



