ABIES VEITCHII, A. WEBBIANA. 109 



Judging from its preference of situation in its native country, it will 

 prove a suitable tree for elevated spots open to the south or south- 

 east. 



The Silver Fir hitherto cultivated in British and Continental gardens 

 under the name of Abies Veitchii is quite a different tree from that 

 described above.* We cannot but deeply regret this error in nomen- 

 clature on account of the additional confusion thereby introduced into 

 the synonymy of the Japanese Conifera?. The plants of A. brachypliylla 

 distributed by us as A. Veitchii, were raised from seed received under 

 the latter name. 



Abies Webbiana. — A tree of fine proportions, the outline pre- 

 sented by it during its growth to maturity being broadly pyramidal. 

 The branches are horizontal and robust, the lower ones decum- 

 bent by the weight of their appendages. The leaves are linear, 

 bifid, or cleft at the points, coriaceous in texture, and rather rigid; 

 on very young plants distichously arranged in two — four rows; as 

 the tree increases in age and vigour, the foliage becomes much 

 more abundant and very dense; the leaves are then produced in 

 a spiral direction all round the branchlets, but by the twist at the 

 base, they point laterally in two directions in six or eight rows on 

 each side, those in the lower rows being fully 2 inches long, while 

 those above are not more than 1 inch; above they are deep glossy 

 green, beneath they are marked by two broad silvery lines. The 

 cones are cylindrical, composed of closely compressed imbricated 

 scales, from 6 to 7 inches long and about 2£ in diameter, "of an 

 intense purple, full of resin, which exudes in numerous transparent 

 globules, yielding by expression a purple pigment." f 



Habitat. — The Himalayan Mountains from Bhotan to Cashmere, at 

 elevations of from 10,000 to 12,000 feet, also in the forests of the 

 Knram and Hariab districts in Afghanistan. 



Introduced in 1822. % 



Abies Webbiana forms forests of considerable extent on the slopes of 

 the Himalayas at the altitude above-mentioned, where, "notwithstanding 

 the whiteness of the under surface of its leaves, the general effect is 

 exceedingly dark and gloomy." It attains a large size, from 70 to 90 



* See Dr. Master's paper, on Abies Veitchii, Gardeners' Chronicle, vol. xiii., p. 275. 



t Loudon, Arb. et Frut., p. 2341. 



X Seeds had been repeatedly sent to England by Dr. "Wallioh to Mr. Lambert and 

 others, but none appear to have vegetated till the date above given, when some plants were 

 raised in the Fulham Nursery. — Loudon, Arb. et Frut., p. 2311. 



