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SPRUCE E I R. 
(Sapin. Fr.) 
Natural Order , Conifers. (Jussieu.) Linncean Classifica- 
tion. , Monoecia Monandria. 
ABIES.* (Tournefort.) 
The plants of this genus differ from the Pines, with which they have 
usually been associated, in having the cones less decidedly grouped, the 
strobiles cylindrically conic, the scales of the cone not thickened at the 
summit, the wing of the seed persistent, and the leaves solitary, partly 
scattered, and more or less disposed in 2 rows. 
These are evergreen trees of Europe, Asia and America, of tall, erect 
and often pyramidal forms, clad with a profusion of acerose foliage. 
Nearly all the species are hardy in cool and temperate climates, such 
as those of Britain and North America. The genus is so strictly natural 
as to render it somewhat difficult to define the species. 
§ I. Abies proper . Scales of the cone deciduous ; anthers dehiscing 
transversely. 
* From abeo, to rise, in allusion to their aspiring growth ; or from 
apios, a pear tree, in reference to the form of their fruit. 
