16 CHINESE ECONOMIC TEEES 



usually high on the tree, at maturity falling apart, the seeds and scales 

 together. The spruces are for the most part important timber trees 

 producing a soft, light, straight-grained wood which is not, however, over 

 durable in contact with the soil. The wood is much used for general 

 construction, interior finish, ship-building, for making mqsical instru- 

 ments and for fuel. Many species are well adapted for planting as 

 windbreaks, tall hedges and for ornamental purposes. The spruces can 

 stand shade and thrive well on thin soil, being shallow rooted, and they 

 should prove useful for reforesting the northern regions. 



The .Chinese species are greatly confused and the genus requires 

 a thorough study before we can be certain of the actual number of 

 species occurring in this country. 



Picea asperata Masters. 



Tree to 35 m. tall of pyramidal habit with horizontal or somewhat 

 pendulous branches up-turned at the ends and grayish-brown bark 

 peeling off in thin, irregular flakes. Branchlets pale yellow-gray; winter 

 buds resinous, conical with loosely appressed thin scales, spreading or 

 slightly recurved, at the apex. Leaves pointing forwards, quadrangular, 

 curved, acute with white stomatiferous lines on all 4 sides, 12 mm. 

 long or slightly longer. Cones ^from 8-12 cm. long, cylindric oblong, 

 pale yellow-gray at maturity, later becoming brown ; cone scales closely 

 appressed before time of ripening, very variable in shape, rounded, 

 rhombic or even truncate at the apex. The cones remain on the tree 5 

 or 6 months after the seeds are shed. Seeds winged. 



W. China. 



A very valuable timber tree often forming extensive forests in W. 

 Szechuan. In appearance Picea asperata can with difficulty be distin- 

 guished from P. abies Karsten, the widely distributed European 

 species, and their distinction is not always certain eyen when herbarium 

 specimens are compared. Rehder and Wilson have attempted to distin- 

 guish 2 varieties of this species, namely: var. notabilis with rhombic 

 ovate scales narrowed to the apex, and var. ponderosa with longer cones, 

 but intermediate forms in abundance indicate the inconstancy of these 

 characters and the varieties may well be disregarded. 



The wood of this species is similar to that of the European species 

 and is used for general construction. 



