CONIFERS. 



35 



tolerably well marked and distinct varieties of it, some of which, for 

 purely ornamental purposes, deserve notice but the only forms of it 

 which I have seen, or which we possess worthy of commendation, are 

 Fastigiata, Gregiana, Pendula, Siandtshiana, Taxi/olia, by some 

 called Drummondii^ and Variegata. 



Before leaving this, my intermediate Section of the S.D. Ahietineoe^ I 

 have to notice : — 



Abies AlcOQUIANA: Alcock's Chinese Spruce Fir. 



This, Said to be new species, from what I have seen of it I term a 

 nondescript, and, doubtless, a manufactured article of John Chinaman, 

 from I^ature's staples, — Abies Excelsa^ and Picea Pedinata ; entitled 

 to be classed as a quasi-species, until time and experience prove to 

 us what it is ; my present opinion of it, however, is, that it may 

 be a botanical curiosity, but it certainly is not a new species of fir. I 

 place it here, inasmuch as it seems to be as consonant to this, as 

 to either of the other two sections of Ahietinece. 



Abies MicROSPERMA: Small-seeded Spruce. 



This I term a small-seeded form of the aforesaid Abies Alcoquiana : 

 Both of them sufficiently hardy for our climate. 



§ 2. Picea: The Pitch or Silver Firs. 



Flowers. Male and female on the same plant, but separate. 



Leaves, flat, solitary, from one-half to two inches long; rich 

 dark green in colour, and on each side the mid-rib on their under 

 surface they have a conspicuous silvery band ; generally blunt-pointed, 

 some sharp and dagger-like, others have their leaves two-clift or divi- 

 ded at the points ; they are generally somewhat irregularly disposed in 

 two rows, some alternate, some scattered, some more or less four-rowed, 

 some spirally disposed all round the shoots ; persistent and perennial. 



Cones. Generally large, ranging from two to seven inches in length, 

 and from one to four inches in diameter; generally more or less 

 cylindrical in form, some egg-shaped, some oblong, some oval, and all 

 more or less blunt-pointed ; generally erect or nearly so ; the scales are 

 comparatively thin and deciduous, and the bracts in some species are 

 larger and in others smaller than the scales, at first generally green, 

 changing to a brownish-purple as they arrive at maturity ; the seeds 

 are large and pitchy, as are also all the component parts of the tree ; 

 hence the name. 



Amongst the Silver Firs are to be found some of the most noble, 

 majestic, symmetrical, and truly beautiful productions of the vegetable 

 kingdom. 



D 2 



