FOEEST TEEES 



enable the reader to picture to himself 

 not only the lowland fir itself, but to 

 form some conception of the esthetic 

 value of the entire genus. 



The leaves are narrow, flat, and 

 linear, usually about as long as a pin 

 or a needle, glossy green on the upper 

 side, and streaked with a longitudinal 

 whitish line underneath. They are 

 crowded horizontally at the right and 

 left sides of the shoot or twig, like the 

 hairs on the quill of a feather. The 

 twigs themselves, and, in turn, the 

 boughs and branches, have a similar 

 tendency to assume a horizontal posi- 

 tion; and thus the tree is built up in 

 neat symmetrical stages, dwindling in 

 size to the summit, and presenting the 

 typical conical form of the cone-bearers. 



Let it not be presumed, however, 

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