1348 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



In Sweden the exact limits^ between P. obovata and P. excelsa are unknown to 

 me ; but there is no doubt that in the northern part of the country, from Jemtland 

 northwards, P. obovata is the sole species. In southern Sweden, the tree appears to 

 be P. excelsa^ and its distribution « is peculiar, as it does not extend to the extreme 

 south, not occurring in Sk^ne north of lat. 56° 10', and not extending to nearer the 

 west coast, from Stromstad to Halmsted, than fifteen miles at any point. Its remains 

 have not been found in the peat mosses south of Jonkoping on Lake Wetter ; and it 

 is supposed to have spread southward of this point in quite recent times ; and this is 

 confirmed by ancient maps of North Skdne, which show that there were no spruce 

 forests in this district at the beginning of the 17th century. (A. H.) 



In Scandanavia the spruce is called gran, or rodgran. From what I have 

 seen in the forests of north and south Trondhjem it is usually found on the better 

 class of land, and even there does not grow so large as farther south, ascending to 

 about 2000 ft. in Tydal and Stordal, and attaining about 100 ft. in height by 8 to 

 10 ft. in girth. I have not noticed, even near the coast, that the trees are browned 

 by the west wind, as they are sometimes even, far inland, in England, but the 

 tree is rarely seen on the exposed parts of the coast, or on the islands, where 

 the Scots pine grows alone. Schubeler, Viridarium Norvegicum, figs. 66, 68, 69, 

 figures three trees remarkable for their habit, one having the branches very short 

 and crowded on the upper part of the stem, and another a good example of the 

 snake spruce, van virgata, Caspary. Figures 73, 74, and 75 show instances of 

 natural layering ; and figures 76 and 'j'], trees grown from a fallen stem. Figure 

 78 shows a candelabra-shaped tree growing near Horten in the Christiana fjord. 



It is stated that the varieties known in cultivation as vars. nana, inverta, and 

 Clanbrassiliana have all been found wild on the coast of Norway. 



The tallest spruce mentioned in Norway by Schubeler was in Hurdalen 

 (lat. 60° 24'), and measured 130 ft. high by 3 ft. 5 in. in diameter; and I am 

 informed of one recently cut in South Rendalen, which was 125 ft. high, and 15 in. in 

 diameter at 80 ft. from ground, and 25 in. at 20 ft. Five logs over 20 ft. long were 

 cut from this one tree. 



The largest spruce I have heard of in Sweden is mentioned by Schubeler 

 (p. 409). It grew in Oster Gotland (lat. 58°) and measured 150 Swedish feet 

 (44.54 m.), with a diameter of 6 ft. (1.78 m.). 



In Professor Goppert's memoir^ on the Primceval Forests of Silesia and Bohemia 

 there are many illustrations of the remarkable forms which the spruce assumes 

 when left absolutely in a state of nature, in regions where the snow lies long 

 and deep. These forests are not described in detail, but are above the region of 

 deciduous trees, and consist mainly of spruce and silver fir, with Sorbus Aucuparia, 

 Salix silesiaca, and Lonicera nigra as underwood. Many of the fallen and rotting 



1 Wittrock, in Act. Hort. Berg. iv. No. 7, p. 69 (1907), agrees with me in laying stress on the character of the twigs in 

 the discrimination of the two species, P. obovata and P. excelsa, which he considers to exist in Sweden. Cf. his article in 

 Krok, Hartman's Skand. Flora, 1889, p. 34. ^ Qf Sylven, in Skog. Tidsk. 1909, Fack, pp. 201-261. 



3 Cf. Hesselman and Schotte, in Medd. Stat. Skogsfdrsoksanstalt, Heft 3, pp. 1-52, with maps (1906). 



* Goppert, Skizzen zur Kenntniss der Urwalder Schlesjens und Bohmens, in Nova Acta Acad. Leap. Carol. Nat. Cur. 

 xxxiv. (1868). 



