FOREST TREES 
enable the reader to picture to himself 
not only the lowland fir itself, but to 
form some conception of the esthetic 
value of the entire genus. 
The leaves are narrow, flat, and 
linear, usually about as long as a pin 
or a needle, glossy green on the upper 
side, and streaked with a longitudinal 
whitish line underneath. They are 
crowded horizontally at the right and 
left sides of the shoot or twig, like the 
hairs on the quill of a feather. The 
twigs themselves, and, in turn, the 
boughs and branches, have a similar 
tendency to assume a horizontal posi- 
tion; and thus the tree is built up in 
neat symmetrical stages, dwindling in 
size to the summit, and presenting the 
typical conical form of the cone-bearers. 
Let it not be presumed, however, 
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