210 PICEA, OB, 



mches long, and from one and a half to two inches broad, 

 cylindrical, erect, on the upper side of the branches, green when 

 young, afterwards reddish, and when ripe of a brown colour. 

 Scales, one inch and a quarter long and the same in breadth, 

 rounded, and thin at the margins, with a long bract fixed 

 on the back of each, and extending beyond the scale, and 

 terminating in a sharp flat point. Seeds soft and full of tur- 

 pentine, angular, enveloped, and surmounted with a membra- 

 naceous wing, broader above than below. Seed-leaves five in 

 number. 



A lofty tree, growing from eighty to one hundred and fifty 

 feet high, with an erect stem, regularly furnished with whorls 

 of branches, which stand horizontal, and a trunk frequently 

 six or eight feet in diameter. 



The Common Silver Fir is found all over the Alps, from, east 

 to west, and on the Alps of Piedmont. It is principally found 

 at an elevation of from 2000 to 4500 feet, and grows on the 

 whole chain of the Apennines, from north to south, and on 

 the mountains of Middle Europe, but is not found on the 

 mountains of the North of Europe. It is also found on the 

 Pyrenees, is common on the higher mountains of Greece, and 

 has the following varieties : — 



PiCEA PECTiNATA PYEAMiDAL];p, Hort, the Pyramidal Common 



Silver Fir. 

 Syn. Abies pectinata pyramidalis, Carri^re. 

 „ Picea pyramidalis, Hort. 

 „ „ taxifolia pyramidalis, Makoy. 

 The branches of this variety of the Common Silver Fir are 

 turned upwards on the main stem, but with their ends and 

 branchlets curved, and more or less drooping. 



It has a narrow, conical head, resembling that of the Lorn-, 

 bardy Poplar in outline, but with a drooping appearance when 

 closely inspected. A very striking variety, of German 

 prigin. 



