PICEA 



CONIFERS 



PICEA 997 



to be all on the same horizontal plane ; 

 upper surface 8-ribbed, lower 1-ribbed. 

 Cones erect, 1-2 in. long, oblong, tapering 

 at each end, and having shining brown 

 oblong ovate scales. This tree grows 

 20-30 ft. high in Britain. 



Culture dc. as above, p. 996. 



P. alba {Abies alba; A. ocerulea; A. 

 arctica do). — White Spruce. — A native of 

 Arctic N. America, where it forms a tree 

 50-170 ft. high with a trunk 2-3 ft. in 

 diameter, and grows in low rather wet soil 

 on the borders of ponds and swamps. The 

 young shoots are very glaucous, and the 

 erect 4-angled leaves are rather long- 

 pointed, somewhat glaucous, and scattered 

 round the branches. The cones are oblong 

 cylindrical, Hght brown, small when ripe. 

 The specimens in cultivation are stOl com- 

 paratively small — about 15-20 ft. high. 



Culture Sc. as above. Sititable for 

 growing near rivers, lakes &c. 



P. alcockiana (P. bicolor; Abies 

 alcocJciana). — A beautiful pyramidal tree, 

 native of Japan, where it reaches a height 

 of 90-120 ft. The young shoots are 

 covered with long shaggy hairs, and the 

 leaves are stiff, more or less curved, linear- 

 oblong, and 4-sided, flattened at the apex. 

 Cones more or less drooping, oblong, 

 2-3 in. long, tapering at each end. The 

 tallest plants in cultivation at present are 

 between 30-40 ft. high. 



Culture do. as above. 



P. breweriana. — A beautiful Spruce, 

 native of N. CaHfornia, where it attains a 

 height of about 90 ft. A striking charac- 

 teristic of this species consists in its long 

 drooping downy branches which make 

 some of the trees resemble Weeping 

 Willows. The leaves are flat Unear and 

 blunt, 1-li in. long, and the cones are 

 about 3 in. long, narrowly cylindrical, 

 tapering to the base. Very rare. 



Culture do. as above. 



P. Engelmanni {Abies Engehnanni ; 

 Pinus commutata). — An elegant tree, 

 native of the Eocky Mountains, where it 

 forms a tree 80-150 ft. high, with a trunk 

 3-4 ft. in diameter, or at great elevations 

 becomes a low prostrate shrub. It has 

 stout stiff, slightly recurved, deep green, 

 more or less 4-angled leaves, and cones 

 2-25^ in. long. The variety glauca is a 

 beautiful plant with glaucous silvery 

 foliage. Cultivated specimens of Bngel- 



mann's Spruce are as yet only about 

 20-30 ft. high. 



Culture do. as above, p. 996. 



P. excelsa (P. vulgaris; Abies ex- 

 celsa ; A. Picea ; Pinus Abies ; P. ex- 

 celsa). — This is the Common Norway 

 Spruce or Burgundy Pitch tree, native of 

 North Europe, especially Scandinavia, 

 where it attains a height of 100-120 ft., 

 making a beautiful tapering pyramidal 

 tree. Its more or less decumbent branches 

 are clothed with dense dark green 4-angled 

 leaves, and it bears cylindrical drooping 

 cones 5-7 in. long. 



As many as 60 forms of this species 

 have been mentioned, but the following 

 are among the best for ornamental gar- 

 dening piu:poses : clanbrassiUama, a dwarf 

 dense slow-growing bush, rarely exceed- 

 ing 4 ft. high ; its sub-variety striata has 

 more erect branches. Aurea is a striking 

 form with long curved glaucous-green 

 leaves tipped with yellow ; pumila glauca 

 is a very dwarf spreading slow-growing 

 but pretty variety ; anipygmaa {or nana) 

 grows about 1 ft. high, and is pyramidal 

 in shape. The common form of the Spruce 

 furnishes the weU-known ' Christmas Tree.' 



Culture dc. as above. 



P. Glehni {Abies Olehni).- — A dwarf 

 dense-growing Spruce, native of Japan 

 and the Island of Sachalin. It has 

 crowded linear 4-angled sharply pointed 

 leaves, about ^ in. long, and narrow cylin- 

 drical cones about 2 in. long, but they are 

 very variable in size. 



Culture dc. as above. 



P. Morinda (P. smithiana; Abies 

 smitMama; A. Khutrow ; Pinus Khutrow) . 

 A beautiful tree increasing in graceful- 

 ness with age, native of the Himalayas 

 from Bhotan to Cashmere at elevations 

 between 8000 and 11,000 ft., and reaching 

 a height of 80-120 ft. Its elegant drooping 

 branches are densely clothed with rigid 

 sharply pointed bright green 4-angled 

 leaves, 1-2 in. long. The cones are ovoid- 

 oblong, 4-6 in. long, with broad entire 

 roundish leathery scales of a shining brown 

 colour. 



The Himalayan Spruce — as P. Mo- 

 rinda may be called — is an excellent tree 

 for elevated parts of the country. There 

 is a specimen over 80 ft. high at Carclew 

 gardens, Cornwall, and another nearly 

 80 years of age at the Earl of Hopetoun's, 



