CONIFERS. 47 



round the shoots ; but becoming more or less two-sided, and somewhat 

 two-rowed upon old trees. 



Their Cones are pendent, or nearly so, and terminate with compara- 

 tively thin persistent scales, theu' seeds small, with a bony shell. All 

 of them abound in turpentine, 



Abies Alba: The White Spruce Fir. 



Leaves, one-half to one inch long, incurved, four-sided, scattered ; 

 and glaucous, or whitish-green in colour. 



Cones, two to three inches long, one-half to one inch broad, and 

 pendulous ; the scales thin, smooth, and rounded. 



Branches, compact and dense ; bark, light coloured. 



A native of Canada and l^orth America, its range extending to the 

 coasts of the Arctic Sea ; attaining heights of from twenty-five to 

 fifty feet, and one to two feet in diameter at base. It is thoroughly 

 hardj'', free growing, not particular about soil, but prefers moist to dry 

 situations, and is partial to a shady locality. 



A most useful ornamental tree, and a most useless timber one. 



The only varieties worth notice are : — ccerulea, (blueish-leaved,) 

 echmoformis, (the hedgehog-like,) glauca, (the glaucous-leaved,) nana, 

 (the dwarf,) and variegata, (the variegated.) 



Abies ExcelsA : The Lofty or Common Spruce. 



This is the prototype of this section, and a well-knoAvn tree. 



Leaves, scattered, four-sided, curved, stiff, and sharj)-pointed ; from 

 one-half to one inch in length, and rich deep green in colour. 



Cones, from four to eight inches long, and from one to two inches 

 broad, growing near the tips of the branches, and when matured 

 pendent ; yellowish-green at first, changiug to brownish-purple as they 

 arrive at maturity : scales somewhat rounded, incurved, and toothed ; 

 seeds very small, with the wing appendage from one-half to one inch long. 



Branches, in whorls, on young trees horizontal, but in old trees 

 drooping : young trees clothed to their base, but old trees lose their 

 lower branches ; bark at first yellowish-green, when old rough and 

 rugged, and brownish -purple. 



It has been more or less extensively cultivated by us for three-and-a- 

 half centuries, and may be termed an Alpine European species, but it 

 is now to be found either indigenous or exotic in most temperate 

 countries of the globe; this being the case it has of late years been 

 found in as many quasi-species, and varieties, as it has native habitats, 

 and has been introduced to us as a fine neto sjjecies, from IS'orth 

 America, California, China, or other parts of the world. 



