THE 
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GARDENERS DICTIONARY. 
A B I 
lL E-tree. SeePopums. 
B I E S •, the Fir-tree. 
The name is derived from 
abeo, to extend or ad- 
vance. Others fay, it is 
derived from abeo, to 
go away, becaufe the 
bark fplits, and, as it 
were, falls away, or is 
broke off eafily. 
The Characters are, 
The male flowers are difl- 
pofed in a loofe bunch , having no corolla , but many fta- 
mina , joined in form of a column at their bafe , but fepa- 
rate above , having eredl fummits. ‘The female flowers 
are colledted in an oblong cone , each fcale including two , 
which have no corolla , a fmall germen with a Jingle flig- 
ma. Thefe are fucceeded by membranaceous winged feeds. 
Dr. Linnaeus, profelfor of botany at Upfal, whofe 
fyftem is generally followed at prefent, ranges this 
genus in the ninth fe&ion of his twenty-firft clafs of 
plants, which includes fuch as have male and female 
flowers, placed at diftances on the fame tree, whole 
ftamina are joined together in form of a column. 
To this genus he joins the Pine, Cedar, and Larch- 
tree, fuppofing them only different fpecies of one ge- 
nus j however, as there is great difference in the cul- 
ture of thele trees, we fball choofe to continue the 
former method of arranging them under their different 
genera. It may not be amils however to obferve, that 
in the former editions of Linnaeus’s Genera Planta- 
rum, thefe plants were ranged under the article Abies, 
but in the laft edition he has thought proper to place 
them under Pinus. 
The Species, which are at prefent to be found in 
the Englifh gardens, are, 
i- Abies {Alba) folks fubtus argenteis apice emargi- 
natis, conis erecftis. Fir-tree whofe leaves are white on 
their under-flde , and indented at their, points, commonly 
called Silver Fir. Abies taxi folio, fruCtu furfum 
fpeftante. i ourn. Inft. R. H. 
2. Abies {Picea) foliis fubulatis mucronatis ltevibus bi- 
fariam verfis. The Norway Fir , or Pitch-tree. Abies 
tenuiore folio, fru&u deorfum inflexo. Tourn. Inft. 
R. H. 
3- Abies ( Balfamea ) foliis fubtus argenteis apice fub- 
A B I 
emargiuatis bifarianv verfis. The Balm of Gilead Fir. 
Abies taxi foliis, odore balfami Gileadenfis. Raii Hift. 
App. 
4. Abies {Canadenfis) foliis linearibus obtufiufculis fub- 
membranaceis. The Newfoundland White Spruce Fir. 
Abies foliis picese brevioribus, conis parvis biunciali- 
bus laxis. Rand. 
5. Abies ( Mariana ) foliis linearibus acutis, conis mini- 
mis. The Black Spruce Fir of North America with very 
fmall cones. 
6. Abies ( Americana ) foliis linearibus obtufiufculis bi- 
fariam verfis conis fubrotundis. The Hemlock Spruce 
Fir. 
There is alfo another fort of Fir, which has been of 
late years introduced from North America, by the 
title of Red Spruce Fir of Newfoundland ; but fo 
far as we can judge by the young trees now growing 
in the Englifh gardens, it appears to be only a va- 
riety of the Black Newfoundland Spruce Fir. There 
was alfo many years paft a tree of the China Fir, 
growing in the garden of Mr. Morgan of Weftmin- 
fter, wliich is mentioned by Dr. Piuknet, but being 
in a bad fituation it made little progrefs, the fmoke 
of London being very hurtful to all forts of ever- 
green trees •, but whether it was killed in that garden, 
or removed to any other, I do not know, for the 
ground has been built upon many years. 
The firft and fecond forts of Firs are very common in 
gardens and plantations of evergreen trees. 
The firft grows in great plenty about Strafburgh, and 
other parts of Germany •, from whence the turpentine 
is brought to England. But it is fuppofed, that moft, 
if not all of thefe were originally planted •, however, 
the moft beautiful of thefe trees are now growing up- 
on mount Olympus, from whence I have received 
cones, which were upwards of a foot in length. Thefe 
are certainly natives of the place. Dr. Tournefort, 
in his travels, mentions the Firs of mount Olympus 
as the moft beautiful trees in the Levant. 
The fecond fort, which is very common in the woods 
of Norway, is the tree that affords the white deals, 
and grows in the valiies where the foil is very deep. 
There are two varieties of this fpecies, greatly differ- 
ing in the length and colour of their leaves, as alfo 
the fize of their cones ; one of which has been dif- 
tinguifhed by nurfery-gardeners, under the title of 
A Long 
