552 EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS. 
or five feet high, and of great proportional breadth. The growth 
is as dense as that of a clipped hedge, and the foliage is a dark, 
velvety shade of green. A pleasing companion for the dwarf silver 
fir, Picea p. compacta. A native of the northern parts of our 
continent. 
The European Silver Fir. Picea pectinata. —A much nobler 
tree than our native balsam fir, though it has some of the same 
faults in a modified degree. The foliage is warmer-toned, longer, 
and more silvery on the under side, and the growth somewhat 
stronger. The disposition of the branches is even more in hori¬ 
zontal layers than those of the balsam fir, and when quite young, 
this character gives it the same formality of shadow lines ; but 
these being still more decided, in connection with the warmer-toned 
foliage, the tree has a more distinctive character. It finally, how¬ 
ever, acquires a sombre expression, but does not arrive at that state 
until it is from thirty to forty years old. When grown in strong 
soils, it is apt to lose its leader while young by excessive cold. 
This is not so great a misfortune as many persons suppose. It 
is very easy to select some of the little twigs the following spring 
from the buds around the base of the leader, and make leaders of 
them. The check in the growth of the upright stem may tend to 
make the foliage at the bottom more dense and beautiful. There 
are many beautiful varieties of the silver fir, among which are the 
following: 
The Weeping Silver Fir. P. p. pendula. —This is an ex¬ 
quisite tree when carefully trained to a stake until from six to ten 
feet high. It is peculiar in form, and the foliage is quite bright- 
colored. The specimen in Parsons & Co.’s ground at Flushing is 
a very embodiment of graceful, slender elegance. By the smooth, 
downward sweep of its branches, it is relieved of the formality of 
stratification and outline peculiar to the family, and retains all the 
soft beauty of their foliage. It is a twin beauty with the pendulous 
Norway spruce (inverta). 
The Upright Silver Fir. P. p. fastigiata. (P. p. metensis). 
—A German garden variety, of more erect fastigiate habit than any 
other, and is said to resemble the Lombardy poplar in outline. 
