

? 
412 THE SYLVA OF MONTANA. 
Wituiamson’s Spruce (Abies Williamsoni). This fine 
spruce is abundant on the summits only of the Cœur d'Aleiie 
Mountains, where it grows three feet in diameter, and one 
hundred feet in height, with a ragged gray bark much like 
that of the eastern Sassafras. The general habit is like that 
of the Hemlock Spruce, but rather stiffer, and the foliage is 
denser, forming several imperfect rows on the twigs. The 
cones are two and a half inches long, pendant from the 
highest branches only. None of them contained ripe seed 
at the time of my visit. The wood appears much like that 
of the Hemlock Spruce. The closeness of its limitation to 
the dividing ridge is remarkable, since, although found at 
the base of this ridge, it there grows only from three to 
six feet high, and produces no cones. I took these at first 
for some species of Juniper. Newberry's figure represents 
it as being too rigid, like A. Douglassii. It is far more 
feathery. 
MERTEN’s SPRUCE (A. Mertensiana*). I have long con- 
sidered this distinct from _A. Canadensis, though the differ- 
ence, if any, is only in its larger growth, and perhaps in 
the glands of the seed, which I have not compared with 
those of the eastern tree. There is however a wide interval 
in their range, A. Canadensis not growing north or west of 
Lake Superior. I first met with this on the west slope 
of the Ceur d’Alefie Mountains, only a few dwarf fruitless 
specimens growing on the east side, and none on the sum- 
mit. It ceases west and north of the Lake on the route I 
followed. 
Western LARCH (Larix occidentalis). I found this fine 
Larch first near Bitterroot valley, whence it becomes rather 
. eommon throughout the route to Fort Colville, holding a 
middle place in relation to the moisture and temperature of 
the various portions. It is about equal to Pinus ponderosa 
. . insize, but has very short branches, as they break off from 
COM the brittleness of the wood as it grows high. The bark is 

* A. Bridgei Kellogg. Proc. Cal. Acad., 1858-59. 
