ABIES HOOKERIANA.
IDENTIFICATION.—ABIES HOOKERIANA, Murray, in Edin. New Phil, your., p. 289 (April 1855); and in Proc. Hort. Soc., i
ABIES WILLIAMSON«, Newberry, in U. S. Pad/. Rail. Rep., vi. p. 53 (1857).
ENGRAVINGS. Cones, Leaves, &e.—Murray (loe. eit.), pi. ix. figs, n, 12, 13, 14, 15, ,6, and 17 ; Newberry (loe. eit.), figs. 19, 19 ;
Tree,—Newberry (be. eit.), pi. vii.
Specific Character.—A. foliis curtis curvatis lcnticularibus utnnque flomatibus inftructis, flrobilis
cylindrico-ellipticis, conicis, fquamis pamm concavis inequalibus vix finuatis, braCteolis tenuibus minutis,
feminibus alatis.
Habitat in California, circa lat. 21° bor.; montibus, altitudine 5000-6000 ped.
Foliage somewhat fafciculated. Leaves (lightly curved, with a rib in the middle, and fometimes
deprefied above, fo as to give the leaf a triangular or boat-fhaped form ; from one-half to three-fourths of
an inch long, rich graffy-green above, pale green beneath, very (lightly filvery beneath, except when young
and frefh; clofely but irregularly fet along the young branches, chiefly on the upper fide of the branch,
except at the extremity of the fhoot, where they furround the whole twig; the margins of the leaf fmooth.
Stomata on both fides of the leaf, in four rows, with occafional interruptions and variations. The general
appearance of the foliage is crowded. Phyllula: fubtriangular, with the angles
rounded [fig. 1]; pulvini long and linear [fig. 2], breaking up into elongate
irregular triangular spaces as the twig becomes older and the bark breaks
[fig. 3]. The male flowers or catkins are very fmall [fee fig. 17], twoeighths
of an inch long, and of a violet purple colour. Cones [fig. 16] ovoidocylindrical,
from one arid a half to two inches long and half an inch in diameter;
according to Dr Newberry and Mr William Lobb, pendent and dark purple
before they are mature, and, when ripe, pale fawn-coloured. Scales [figs. 6
and 7] concave or faucer-fliaped, dull and opaque, more efpecially where they
have been covered by the other fcales; (lightly thickened towards the expofed
edge, not crenulated, but gently impreffed with two or three faint raifed lines: thefe lines are irregular and
evanefcent, generally running flraight down the expofed part of the fcale, or only doping (lightly towards
the centre. Sides of the fcale cut out unequally on the oppofite fides, and ending with a tooth curving
inwards at each fide of the flipule. A fmall brad, nearly two lines long, is fituated at the bottom of each
fcale, fattened firmly to the back, and adpreffed upon the fcale. There is a yellowilh tooth in the middle,
which is a mere prolongation of the rib or attachment to the fcale, and which is fo firmly fixed that the fcale
may be torn off, leaving the greater part of the rib flicking like a thread to the fcale. The top of this
fcale, on each fide, is purple. At about one-third of its length from the top the breadth of the bract is
fuddenly contracted, and from thence (lopes gradually to its bafe. [See fig. 9.]
The cones have confiderable refemblance to thofe of A. alba. They are of the fame colour, and the
fcales in both are fomewhat faucer-fliaped, and have their edges fmooth ; but A. Hookeriana has the cone,
[ 6 ] a and