Picea 



1339 



individuals which always bear staminate flowers ; and hermaphrodite flowers have 

 been observed. The flowers are pollinated by the wind, the pollen being carried to 

 an immense distance ; as far as' eight miles in a case which was noticed near 

 Munich. In the vicinity of spruce forests the pollen often descends in enormous 

 quantity, covering the ground and the surface of lakes and rivers with yellow 

 patches. 



I. The following variations occur in the form of the scales of the cone : — 



1. Var. europesa, Schroter, op. cit. 142 (1898). 



Var. montana, Ascherson and Graebner, op. at 198 (1897). 



Picea vulgaris. Link, var. europcea, Teplouchoff, in Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc, xli. pt. ii. 249 

 (1869). 



Cone-scales rhombic, gradually narrowing in the upper third to a truncate, 

 slightly inflexed, emarginate or denticulate apex. This is the common form of 

 P. excelsa, widely distributed throughout central Europe, and also occurring in 

 southern Sweden. In the Alps it is rarely found over 5000 feet elevation. 



2. Var. acuminata, Beck, in Ann. Nat. Hofm. Wien, ii. 39 (1887). 

 Cone-scales, contracted suddenly into a long bifid recurved undulate apex. 



This variety is of rarer occurrence in central Europe than the preceding; but is 

 found in the Jura^ and the Alps, and is said to be common in eastern Prussia and 

 in southern Sweden. 



3. Var. triloba, Ascherson and Graebner, op. cit. 199 (1897). 



Scales of the cone trilobed at the apex. This is a much less common varia- 

 tion, which has been noticed in a few trees growing at Blankenburg^ in the Harz 

 Mountains, at Soglio * to the north of Lake Como, and in Moravia.* 



II. There appear to be two races of the common spruce in the continental 

 forests, which are mainly distinguishable by the colour assumed by the unripe cones 

 in August. 



4. Var. chlorocarpa, Purkyne, in Allg. Forst. u. Jagdzeit, liii. i (1877). Cones 

 remaining green in August. 



5. Var. erythrocarpa, Purkyne, loc. cit. Cones becoming dark violet in August. 

 Purkyne considered that important differences in the growth of the tree, in the 



character of the wood, in the staminate and pistillate flowers, and in the soil occupied 

 by each form, were correlated with the differences in the colour of the cones ; but 

 Schroter considers that these are not established, and suggests further investigation. 



III. The spruce varies much in habit in the wild state, and several remarkable 

 sports have been described. 



6. Var. viminalis, Caspary, in Sckr. Phys. Oekon. Ges. Konigsberg, xiv. 126 



(1873). 



Pinus viminalis, Sparrman, ex Alstroemer, in Vet. Ac. Handl. Stockh. xxxviii. 310 (i777)- 

 Pimts hybrida, Liljeblad, in Svensk Fl. (1792). 



1 Cf. Aubert, Flore di la ValUe dejoiix, 345 (1900). 



2 A. Braun, in Verh. Bot. Verein Prov. Brandenburg, xviii. Sitzb. 13 (1876). 



3 Ascherson and Graebner, ex Schroter, op. cit. 204, fig. 31 (1898). 



« Wilhelm, in Oestcrr. Forstzeit. 18S8, p. 169. 



