88 A MANUAL OF "J?HB COMlFEKJI. 



writing to us soon after his return, says of it — " It is a northern tree, 

 not reaching even the northern boundary of California, but not at all 

 rare on the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, and reaching as far north 

 as the Fraser River in British Columbia. It is the most beautiful of 

 the genus with which I am acquainted." 



And Dr. Engelmann, in the Gardeners? Chronicle, loc. cit., writes, 

 " On the mountain, just south of the Cascades of the Columbia, where 

 Douglas discovered it, it is a magnificent tree at about 4000 feet 

 altitude ; the largest specimen growing on the banks of a mountain 

 torrent was probably 150 feet high, with a trunk about 4 feet in 

 diameter, branching to the ground, and forming a perfect cone of dark 

 green foliage." 



The locality of the tree being now accurately known, it is quite 

 reasonable to hope that a supply of seed will soon be forthcoming, 

 and that this beautiful Abies will not much longer be so rare in 

 British gardens. 



Abies balsamea is a medium-sized slender tree, from 40 to 

 60 feet high, but frequently much less, with the diameter of the 

 trunk near the surface of the ground not greater than from 12 

 to 18 inches. The leaves are distichously arranged, generally in 

 double rows on each side, notched on sterile and pointed on 

 fertile branches, but sometimes variable on the same branch ; they 

 are smaller and thinner than those of the common European kind. 

 The cones are from 4 to 5 inches long and about an inch in 

 diameter. 



Habitat. — Canada and the north-eastern States, along the Great 

 Lakes as far as the Mississippi; also on the Alleghany Mountains 

 in Virginia and Pennsylvania. 



Introduced in 1697 by Bishop Compton. 



Abies balsamea Hudsonica is a sterile dwarf variety found in 

 the White Mountains of New Hampshire, above the timber line.* 



The specific name balsamea refers to the valuable Canada Balsam, 

 prepared from the sap, 



Abies brachypbylla.-^A Silver Fir of recent introduction, de- 

 scribed as a magnificent tree 120 feet high, with a somewhat 

 open aspect, like the A. pedinata of Europe, with rather lighter 

 green foliage. It is, however, known to be variable, according 



* Dr. Engelmann in Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 1878. 



