1380 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



The two best trees were, in 1908, 50 ft. high and 10 in. in diameter at five feet 

 from the ground. The plantation had not been properly thinned at an early 



period. 



The European spruce in the same district, at a higher elevation, about 1800 ft., 

 averaged at forty-five years old 445 trees per acre, with an annual increment 

 of 136 cubic ft. per acre; and the best trees were 60 ft. high by 12I in. in 



diameter. 



The red spruce had a redder and more scaly bark than the common spruce ; 

 and was more densely clothed with foliage, the improvement of the soil due to the 

 decay of the fallen leaves being well marked. The trees bear cones about every two 

 years ; and I noticed several seedlings in the open ground adjoining the plantation. 

 One of the trees had a sucker from its roots about 3 ft. high. (A. H.) 



PICEA ALBA, White Spruce 



Picea alba^ Link, Handb. ii. 478 (183 1), and in Linnxa, xv. 519 (1841); Kent, Veitch's Man. 



Conif. 427 (1900); Clinton-Baker, Illust. Conif. ii. 34 (1909). 

 Picea canadensis, Britton, Sterns, and Poggenburg, Cat. PL N. York, 71 (1888); Sargent, Silva N. 



Amer. xii. 37, t. 598 (1898), and Trees N. Amer. 42 (1905)- 

 Picea laxa, Sargent, in Garden and Forest, ii. 496 (1888); Jack, in Garden and Forest, x. 63 (1897). 

 Abies canadensis. Miller, Diet. 8th ed. No. 4 (1768). 

 Abies alba, Michaux, Fl. Bor. Amer. ii. 207 (1803) (not Miller); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iv. 



2310 (1838). 

 Abies curvifolia, Salisbury, in Trans. Linn. Soc. viii. 315 (1807). 

 Abies laxa, Koch, Dendrologie, ii. 2. p. 243 (1873). 

 Pinus canadensis, Du Roi, Obst. Bot. 38 (17 71) (not Linnaeus). 

 Pinus laxa, Ehrhart, Beitrdge, iii. 24 (1788). 

 Pinus alba, Solander, in Alton, Hort. Kew. iii. 371 (1789); Lambert, Genus Pinus, i. 39, t. 26 



(1803). 



A tree, attaining in America 70 to 100 ft. in height and 6 to 8 ft. in girth. Bark 

 ^ to 1^ in. thick, with thin greyish plate-like scales. Young branchlets slender, glabrous, 

 glaucous ; becoming greyish or pale brown in the second year. Buds, ^ in. long, 

 ovoid, rounded or obtuse at the apex ; with glabrous scales, non-ciliate, rounded and 

 bifid at the tip, and usually loosely imbricated. Leaves on lateral branches arranged 

 as in the common spruce, usually with a disagreeable odour * when bruised, bluish, 



1 The oldest specific name (canadensis of Miller) for this species is not available, as it was previously used by Linnaeus for 

 the eastern hemlock, his Pinus canadensis being Tsuga canadensis. Moreover, Jack, in Garden and Forest, x. 63 (1897), 

 gives some reasons for supposing that Miller indicated the red spruce by his name Abies canadensis ; and on this account Jack 

 proposes the name Picea canadensis for the red spruce, and Picea laxa for the white spruce. The latter name is based on 

 Ehrhart's Pinus laxa, which is earlier than Solander's Pinus alba. Voss, in Mitt. Deut. Detid. Ges. 1907, p. 93, proposes 

 Picea glauca for the white spruce, based on Pinus glauca, Moench, which is earlier than any name except Miller's, but was 

 applied to the glaucous variety. In the midst of the confusion, in which the nomenclature of the American black, white, and 

 red spruces is involved, it is most convenient to adopt for them the names Picea nigra, Picea alba, and Picea rubra, which 

 were first used in combination by Link, and which have been in common use for a great number of years. Moreover, these 

 names are unambiguous, as they have always been applied in each case to the same species. 



2 Hence the name cat or skunk spruce often given to the tree in America. Usually the odour is only perceived when the 

 leaves are bruised, but in certain states of the air it can be detected at some distance from the tree. Cf. Garden and Forest, 

 A. 63 (1897). 



