ENUMERATION OF CONIFERS 



275 



1. Picea 

 Abies. 



usually rounded and entire at the apex. Western China. — Introduced 

 together with the two following varieties in 1910 by E. H. Wilson to the 

 Arnold Arboretum where it has proved perfectly hardy and has shown itself 

 one of the most vigorous of the Chinese 

 spruces, in general appearance much 

 resembling the Norway spruce. 



Var. notabilis, Rehd. & Wils. Leaves 

 Yt^A inch long: cones ^Yi-^ inches long; 

 scales rhombic-ovate, narrowed toward 

 the apex. 



Var. ponderosa, Rehd. & Wils. Bark 

 thicker, brownish-gray; branchlets nearly 

 glabrous, yellowish: cones 5-G inches long. 



10. P. Abies, Karst. (P.excclsa, Link. 

 P. rubra, A. Dietr., not Link. Pinus Abies, 

 L. P. Picea, Dur.). NomvAY Spruce. 

 Fig. 71 and Plate XXXIII. Tree to 150 

 feet tall, with spreading branches and 

 usually pendulous branchlets; bark reddish- 

 brown; young branches brown, glabrous 

 or pubescent; winter-buds reddish or light 

 brown, without resin, the terminal bud at 

 base with a few acuminate keeled pubescent 

 scales: leaves quadrangular, acute, dark 

 green and usually shining, /^-/4, rarely to 

 1 inch long: staminate and fertile flowers 

 bright purple: cones cylindric-oblong, 

 4-7 inches long, light brown; scales 

 rhombic-ovate, emarginate or truncate 

 at apex, with erose-denticulate margin. 

 Middle and northern Europe, east to the Ural Mountains. — Early introduced 

 to this country where it is hardy as far north as Saskatchewan. It is 

 extensively planted as an ornamental tree in the northern and eastern States; 

 it is of rapid growth and is a handsome tree with its graceful habit and dark 

 green dense foliage, but, like many spruces and firs, loses much of its beauty 

 when it grows old, and usually after thirty years it becomes thin and ragged 

 in the top. It is one of the best conifers to plant for shelters and windbreaks. 

 The Norway spruce is very variable, and a great number of garden forms 

 are in cultivation. Some of the more important are the following: 



Forms differing in color or shape of leaves: Var. argentea, Rehd. (P. 

 excelsa variegata, Beiss.). Leaves variegated with white. Var. argenteo- 

 spica, Rehd. (P. excelsa argenteo-spica, Hesse, or argenteo-spicata, Beiss.). 



