98 



A MANUAL OF THE CONIFERS. 



Silver Firs, and thence the aspect is lighter and more airy. It is 

 rendered very distinct by its foliage, the leaves being "arranged 



horizontally in double rows on 

 each side of the branchlets in a 

 more or less pectinate manner on 

 short twisted foot-stalks/ 5 * those 

 in the upper row being about 

 one-third shorter than those below, 

 which are from 1 to 1£ inch 

 long; they are emarginate or 

 blunt, apple green above and 

 silvery beneath. The cones are 

 cylindrical, obtuse at base and 

 apex, 4 to 5 inches long and 

 2 inches in diameter. 



Habitat. — The littoral region of 

 the north-west coast of North 

 America from Cape Mendocino in 

 California to Vancouver's Island 

 and the Fraser River. 



Introduced in 1831 by David 

 Douglas. 



Abies grandis takes the first 

 rank in size among the gigantic 

 Firs of north-western America. 

 At McCurnbers, and at an ele- 

 vation of 4,000 feet, it forms a 

 conspicuous element in the mag- 

 nificent forest composed of this 

 Fir, the Sugar Pine (Pinus 

 Lanibertiana) and P. ponderosa. 

 The measure of several taken in 

 this locality, gives the circum- 

 ference 21 feet, at 3 feet from 

 the ground, with an estimated 

 height of 150 feet. In ' open places, the trunk is furnished with 

 branches almost from the ground ; they are spreading, and give the 



* Gordon, Pinetum, p. 217. This description is only applicable to the leaves of specimens 

 growing in Great Britain, of which the branches may be presumed to be sterile. It is 

 most probable that, on fertile branches, they will be found somewhat different, and the 

 formal double-rowed arrangement modified. 



Ml 



Fig. 24 — Cone of Abies grandis, gathered by William 

 Lobb in Oregon in 1852. Natural size. 



