PINETUM DANICUM. 



425 



being dense in tlie foliage, it may be said to be a storelionse of heat. 

 It is of a conical form, and being an excellent non-conductor, it 

 protects tlie ground from cold and drought. The tree luxuriates on 

 north and east exposures in deep loams or a moist sandy soil, and on 

 such it is believed to produce timber in Scotland equal, or almost 

 so, to that grown in Norway (Trans. Roy. Scot. Arb. Soc. xii. pt. 2). 



F. excelsa is to be found in Danish forests and gardens with a 

 height of 100 feet and more. A forester told me that he had measured 

 a tree, supposed to be 125 years old, which was 113 feet high and 

 11 feet and a few inches in girth. 



P. excelsa, says Professor Schiibeler, does not seem to reach in 

 Scandinavia the height and thickness it attains in Germany — for 

 instance, in the Erz Mountains of Saxony. Even there, under good 

 conditions, one will seldom find trees more than 100 feet high (31"37 

 metres) with a diameter of 3 feet (94 cm.). The young growth is 

 sometimes, even in northern situations, very considerable, being often 

 over 2 feet. 



P. e. aurea niagnijS.ca. A distinct, clear yellow variety, brought 

 into commerce by Mr. Hans, nurseryman, of Hernhut. 



P. e. brevifolia, Cripps (the Short-leaved Miniature Spruce). 

 A distinct pigmy Spruce, with very minute leaves. 



P. e. Clanbrassiliana, Carr. 



This is a very distinct-growing variety, seldom or never exceeding 

 4 or 5 feet in height, but forming a compact, low bush, with short 

 slender branches, which are densly covered with leaves that are little 

 more than a quarter of an inch in lengtk, of a needle shape, somewhat 

 four-angled, their grooves tinged with a light glaucous hue. This 

 plant was first introduced to Great Britain by Lord Clanbrassil, and 

 is designated "Clanbrassiliana" in compliment to his lordship. It 

 presents an interesting and curious appearance in the arboretum 

 amongst the more gigantic-growing species belonging to the same 

 genus. 



Plants about thirty, perhaps forty, years of age are to be seen in 

 Denmark. In rare cases I have seen a branch revert to the species, 

 but perhaps it came from the stem on which the variety was grafted. 



P. e. denudata, Carr. P. excelsa virgata, Jacq. 



This variety, known as the Naked or Twig-branched Spruce, differs 

 principally from the monstrous form of the common Spruce in the 

 lesser branches being more twiggy, spreading, reflexed, and a little 

 more divided at irregular distances, and in the leaves being stouter, 

 and lying more closely along the branchlets. It is of French origin. 



P. e. elegans. Loud. P. eJegans, Smith. P. excelsa dumosa, hort. 



A dwarf variety, with very slender grey foliage, only growing 4 or 5 

 feet high, with a very compact, pretty appearance. 



P. e. eremita, Knight, Carr. Abies miniata, Knight. 



A variety with short, stout branches, covered with a yellowish red 



