Picea orientalis 
Native of Asia Minor. 
Nat. Order : Conirera, Tribe: ABIETINES, 
Picea ortentalis, Carriére, “ Traité Conif.” ed. i. 244 (1855); 
Veitch, Manual, ed. ii. 443 (1900); Abzes orientalis, 
Poiret, “ Dict.” vi. 518 (1804). 
Introduced into England about 1840 from Asia Minor 
near Trebizond, where it was first discovered by Tournefort in 
1717. It occurs on the mountains in the Trans-Caucasian 
region, growing up to a height of six thousand feet above sea- 
level. It is one of the handsomest and one of the most hardy 
of the spruce firs, and is planted in this country entirely as 
an ornamental tree. The form is pyramidal, the colour in 
early Spring is a soft yellow, turning to green, and as it grows 
older it becomes much darker, so that it is sometimes mistaken 
for Abies nigra, which comes from North America, and is a 
totally different tree. It thrives in almost any kind of soil, 
and has grown here to a height of forty-three feet, with a 
circumference of branches at the ground of fifty-eight feet. 
53 
