0.96] 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION 



183 



obtuse to notched at the tip, smooth, thick, dark green above, 

 with two white lines below. Cones scarcely 1 in. long, elliptical, 

 solitary, terminal, obtuse, quite persistent; scales pale brown. A 

 beautiful small tree, 20 to 30 ft. high, with an erect trunk, dark- 

 brown bark, and numerous, pale, slender branchlets. Introduced 

 from Japan, and probably hardy throughout. 



GENUS 96. ABIES. (THE FIRS.) 



Leaves evergreen, flat, scattered, generally whitened 

 beneath, appearing somewhat 2-ranked by the directions 

 they take. Fertile catkins and cones erect on the iipper 

 side of the spreading branches. Cones ripening the first 

 year; their scales thin and smooth, and the bracts gener- 

 ally exserted; scales and bracts breaking off at maturity 

 and falling away, leaving the axis on the tree. A great 

 number of species and varieties have been planted in this 

 country, but few if any besides those here given do at all 

 well in our dry and hot climate. 



* Cones 6 to 8 in. long; leaves blunt at tip. (A.) 



A. Leaves over an inch long 10, 11. 



A. Leaves an inch or less long 12. 



* Cones "&/ to 6 in. long. (B.) 



B. Leaves 2 in. or more long, 2-ranked 9. 



B. Leaves 1 in. or less long. (C.) 



C. Leaves acute at tip 7, 8. 



C. Leaves blunt or notched at tip. (D. ) 



D. Two-ranked 4. 



D. Not 2-ranked 3. 



* Cones 1 to 3}4 in. long. (E.) 



E. Leaves an inch or more long. .5, 6. 

 E. Leaves less than an inch long . 1, 2. 



1. Abies bal&amea, Mill. (COMMON 

 BALSAM-FIR.) Leaves narrow, linear, V* 

 to % in. long, and much crowded, silvery 

 beneath ; those on the horizontal branches 

 spreading into 2 ranks. Bark yielding 

 Canada balsam from blisters. Cones 

 erect, on spreading branches, 2 to 4 in. 

 long and 1 in. thick, cylindric, violet-col- 



