CONIFERS. 35 



tolerably well marked and distinct varieties of it, some of which, for 

 purely ornamental purposes, deserve notice hut the only forms of it 

 which I have seen, or which we possess worthy of commendation, are 

 Fastigiata, Gregiana, Pendula, Standishiana, Taxifolia, by some 

 called Drummondii, and Variegata. 



Before leaving this, my intermediate Section of the S.D, Ahieiinece, I 

 have to notice : — 



Abies AlcOQUIANA: Alcock's Chinese Spruce Fir. 



This, said to be new species, from what I have seen of it I term a 

 nondescript, and, doubtless, a manufactured article of John Chinaman, 

 from Nature's staples, — Abies Excelsa, and Picea Pedinata ; entitled 

 to be classed as a quasi-species, until time and experience prove to 

 us what it is ; my present opinion of it, however, is, that it may 

 be a botanical curiosity, but it certainly is not a new species of fir. I 

 place it here, inasmuch as it seems to be as consonant to this, as 

 to either of the other two sections of Ahietinece. 



Abies MicROSPERMA: Small-seeded Spruce. 



This I term a small-seeded form of the aforesaid Abies Alcoquiana : 

 Both of them sufficiently hardy for our climate. 



§ 2. Picea: The Pitch or Silver Firs. 



Flowers. Male and female on the same plant, but separate. 



Leaves, flat, solitary, from one-half to two inches long; rich 

 dark green in colour, and on each side the mid-rib on their under 

 surface they have a conspicuous silvery band ; generally blunt-pointed, 

 some sharp and dagger-like, others have their leaves tAvo-clift or divi- 

 ded at the points ; they are generally somewhat irregularly disposed in 

 two rows, some alternate, some scattered, some more or less four-rowed, 

 some spirally disposed all round the shoots ; persistent and perennial. 



Cones. Generally large, ranging from two to seven inches in length, 

 and from one to four inches in diameter; generally more or less 

 cylindrical in form, some egg-shaped, some oblong, some oval, and all 

 more or less blunt-pointed ; generally erect or nearly so ; the scales are 

 comparatively thin and deciduous, and the bracts in some species are 

 larger and in others smaller than the scales, at first generally green, 

 changing to a brownish-piirple as they arrive at maturity ; the seeds 

 are large and pitchy, as are also all the component parts of the tree ; 

 hence the name. 



Amongst the Silver Firs are to be found some of the most noble, 

 majestic, symmetrical, and truly beautiful productions of the vegetable 

 kingdom. 



D 2 



