52 
BOTANY. 
had lived to return to England, as they are really very unlike each other, both in general 
aspect and botanical characters. 
We first met with this tree in latitude 44° S’., in the vicinity of the “ Three Sisters,” snow 
peaks of the Cascade mountains, nearly 150 miles south of the Columbia. 
After striking the south fork of the Des Chutes river, on our progress northward, we followed 
down that branch to its union with the main stream. This we followed to its source in the 
southern slope of the group of mountains named. Around the mountain lakes in which 
the Des Chutes takes its rise, we found, at first, a few small trees, and, subsequently, groups 
and groves of a fir, which, familiar as we were with P. grandis —that species having accomr 
panied us all the way from the mountains of California,—was immediately noticed by all 
our party as a tree entirely new to our experience, and very different from any we had seen. 
From my notes, made at the time, I take the following passage descriptive of this tree: 
“ Cascade mountains, latitude 44° N., August 30.— * * On the rocky ledges which 
overlook the lakes are a few trees of a fir which we have not before seen. It here forms a tree 
of moderate height, of strictly conical figure. The foliage is very rich and massive, a dark- 
green above, silvery beneath ; the cones, very large, 6 by 1\ inches ; elliptical, obtuse, and 
of a dark-purple color, with numerous patches of white resin. These erect, and situated near 
the summit of the tree, sometimes growing on quite small trees, seem disproportionably large, 
and more than once I have in the distance mistaken them for birds.” 
Of the many notices of P. amabilis which occur in my journal, I select two others which will 
serve to illustrate the habit and appearance of the tree as it grows in perfection in its native 
wilds : 
“ Cascade mountains , latitude 44° 17' (30 miles northwest from last, on headwaters of 
McKenzie’s fork of the Willamette river.)—Our camp to-night is on the borders of a small 
lake, in a region formerly covered by a dense forest, which, perhaps, thirty years since was all 
burned off. It has been succeeded by clusters and groves, principally of silver firs, which 
growing in a fertile soil, and not yet crowding each other, have everywhere assumed the 
symmetrical forms sometimes seen in the isolated evergreens of cultivated grounds.” 
The young trees of P. amabilis are less regular in form, and are handsomer, than any other 
fir I have ever seen. 
The range of this tree is apparently less extensive than that of P. grandis , though how far it 
extends to the north we have no means of knowing at present. 
We did not see it elsewhere than in the Cascade mountains between latitude 44° and 46°; 
it is found, however, north of the Columbia, and probably exists along the summit of the Cas¬ 
cade range as far south as Mount Pitt, about 42° 40'. I did not see it in the Willamette valley 
or in the Coast mountains ; it is probably confined to the higher portions of these latter moun¬ 
tains, if, indeed, it exists on them. 
The wood is white, and would, perhaps, be used for timber if it were accessible. As a timber 
tree, it is, however, far inferior to many other trees which grow in the valleys and on the coast 
of Oregon. 
Cones of P. amabilis were brought home, and seeds have been distributed with a view to its 
introduction into cultivation. Should this effort be unsuccessful, it may be obtained from 
England, where it has been grown from seeds sent home by Douglass. I very much regret 
that it was never convenient for the artist of the party, Mr. Young, to take a portrait of this 
