71 
P. sitcJiensis of our northwest coast. It has been sometimes called 
Picea ajanensis, P. microsperma and P. hondoensis. In Great Britain, 
where it is usually incorrectly called Picea Alcockiana, it grows re- 
markably well and has been recommended as a timber tree for forest 
planting. In a collection of exotic trees made in 1870 by Dr. George 
R. Hall in Warren, Rhode Island, there is a specimen of this tree 
from sixty to seventy feet high with a trunk forty-six and a half 
inches in diameter and branches spreading on the ground. In this 
Arboretum and in the Hunnewell Pinetum at Wellesley this tree has 
grown badly, losing many of its branches and soon becoming unsightly. 
Picea bicolor. This is one of the rarest of the Japanese conifers, 
and as it grows in the Hunnewell Pinetum it is now the handsomest 
of all the Spruce trees which' can be grown in this climate. Mr. Hun- 
newelPs trees are now about forty feet high with the lower branches 
resting on the ground and covering a space from thirty-five to forty 
feet across and with perfectly straight stems. This beautiful tree is 
probably better knov/n by its incorrect name of Picea Alcockiana. 
It is one of the rarest of the Japanese conifers in cultivation and it is 
to be regretted there are no good specimens now in this Arboretum. 
Picea Abies. This unfortunately is the correct name for the so-called 
Norway Spruce of Europe which has generally been known as Picea 
excelsa. Fifty or sixty years ago this tree was very generally planted 
in southern New England where it has not proved a success as an or- 
namental tree as it begins to fail at the top when about thirty years 
old and then soon becomes ragged and unsightly. In some parts of 
Virginia and in the Middle States this is a better tree than it is in 
Massachusetts. In the National Cemetery at Gettysburg in Pennsyl- 
vania there are magnificent specimens of the Norway Spruce in as 
perfect health and beauty as can be found anywhere. 
Firs. The number of Fir trees that can be successfully grown in 
this climate for many years is not large. One of the handsomest here 
is the White Fir of western North America, Abies concolor. There 
are fine specimens of this beautiful tree in the Arboretum raised here 
from seed planted in 1874 and now about sixty feet high, with the 
lower branches resting on the ground, and solid masses of gray-green 
foliage. As handsome and as promising in this climate is the Japanese 
Abies homolepis, or, as it has been more often called, Abies brachy- 
phylla. This is a large tree on the mountains of central Japan with 
dark green leaves silvery white on the lower surface and violet-purple 
cones. It has proved perfectly hardy in this climate. The largest 
specimen in the Hunnewell Pinetum is now fifty-five feet high with 
branches sweeping the ground. The Arboretum trees are smaller but 
already produce their handsome cones. A variety of this tree, (var. 
umbellata) with green cones and rather lighter-colored leaves is estab- 
lished in the Arboretum where it has grown rapidly, the largest speci- 
men raised from seeds planted in 1891 being thirty-five feet high. Abies 
cilicica from Asia Minor and A. cephalonica from southeastern Europe 
are hardy trees in the Arboretum and now promise to grow here to a 
large size. Abies Veitchii from Japan is still a handsome tree in the 
