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The black fir, Abies nigra, Lamb., or black spruce, is a tree from the United States 

 only thirty or forty feet high. The leaves are straight, tetragonal, and slightly rough. The 

 fruits or cones are brown tending to black, oval in shape and pointed toward the ground. 



RANGE: North America. It's very common in our parks. 



The silver fir, Abies alba. Lamb., or white spruce, so called because of the color 

 of its bark. The leaves are glaucous, tetragonal, and slightly curved. The fruits or cones 

 are oval-oblong, light reddish, and point downward. This tree grows very tall. 



RANGE: New England and Canada. It's cultivated in our parks. 



The hemlock-spruce, Abies canadensis. Lamb., is atree from the same countries 

 as the two above. It has flattened leaves arranged like a comb. The fruits or cones are 

 very small and hang downward. The scales don't detach from the axis at all. 



RANGE: North America, as yet not widely distributed in our parks, where it 

 thrives very well. It was introduced into Europe in 1736 by Pierre Collinson [Translator's 

 note: Peter Collinson, 1694-1768, English botanist and horticulturist]. 



The silver fir, Abies taxifolia, des Pinus picea, Linn., is a large tree that's quite 

 common in several parts of France, especially in Normandy. It grows sixty or eighty feet 

 high. Its trunk is straight and very elongated. The branches extend horizontally. The 

 leaves are narrow, truncated at the tip, green above, whitish underneath, and arranged on 

 the branches like teeth on a comb. The fruits or cones are upright, and the scales detach 

 from their axis after the seeds mature. 



FLOWERS: at the end of winter. 



RANGE: France and Germany. It prefers hills and higher elevations where the 

 earth is clayey. 



