broadly lanceolate fcales, two or three rows deep (which are perfiftent for at leaft three years); the margin of
the fcales is laciniated. Leaves [fig. 3] perfiftent for two years, pale yellowifh-green when frefii, brownifhgreen
when older, rigid, firm, fhort, and fhining, fubtetragonal, obtufely pointed, fimilar to thofe of the
Common Spruce, but only one-half or quarter their fize, fpirally difpofed, and thickly covering the whole
branchlet; with about feven ftomata on each fide of the projecting middle, on the fide which correfponds
with the upper face, that is, the face which lies next the branch when the leaf
(mm Ql is in its natural pofition, adpreffed to it [fig. 4], and with about three ftomata
^ f ^ ' on each fide of the middle 011 the other face [fig. 5]. Male catkins, fhewn in
Fig.6. Fig.;. Fig.8. ^ (> r a t]l e r numerous, four to fix on a twig, fmall, from a quarter to half an
inch in length, pale-fawn coloured. Anthers [figs. 6, 7, and 8] not
very numerous, furmounted by a circular creft with laciniated margins,
bilocular, the loculi elongate, wideft at the top. Cones pen- I
dent [fig. 9], from two to three inches in length, from one-half to
three-quarters of an inch in breadth, fubcylindrical, elongate-pyriform,
tapering gradually to a point; fcales [fee fig. 11 of
natural fize, and fig. 10 magnified] with the expofed margin rounded or {lightly acute,
and its edge fcarcely denticulated; bracts [fig. 12, magnified] fmall, fomewhat pentagonally
fliaped, the apex truncate, the margins ftrongly laciniated or irregularly toothed and
K'& ,3' fiffured. Seeds [fig. 13] fmall, wing of the feed broad, and rounded at the apex, as
broad at its broadeft part as from the top of the feed to the apex of the wing.
Defcription.—The tree is large and lofty. Tournefort, fpeaking of the Convent of St John, which
is fituated about 25 miles to the fouth-eaft of Trebizond, fays, " It is furrounded by forefts which are not
furpaffed by thofe in the Alps. The trees around it confift of Beeches, Oaks, Limes, Allies, and Firs,
dune hauteur prodigieuse'.' And he relates a rather ftriking inftance of their dimenfions in the account
which he gives of the manner in which accefs is obtained to the Convent. "The dwelling of the
monks," fays he, " is only built of wood, and wholly againft a fcarped rock, at the bottom of the mod
beautiful folitude in the world. . . . They afcend to the houfe by a very rude ftaircafe of a lingular
conftru&ion. It is compofed of two trunks of Fir-trees as long as the malls of a fliip, leaning againft
the wall, and doped in the fame way as a ladder. In place of planks, or the fteps which are ufually
placed acrofs the ladder, they have here cut a fucceffion of fteps with an axe, and they have placed
there, very neceffarily, perches on the fides to ferve as a protection ; for I defy the moft fkilful ropedancers
to climb up there without this affiftance. Our head turned feveral times as we dcfcended, and
but for this fupport we fhould have broken our necks. It is not poffible that the firft men could ever
have made a fimpler ladder. One has only to look at it to form fome idea of the birth of the world.
The branches feather to the ground, and are exceedingly compact and plentiful."
Geographical Dijlribution.—Tournefort, as above mentioned, found this fpecies growing about 25
miles to the fouth-eaft of Trebizond. He there found it pretty high up the mountains. He fays,
"After having vifited the environs of the Convent, where there are plants which interefted us in the
moft agreeable manner, we afcended to the moft elevated places, which the fnow had only left a few
days previoufly, and where we faw others which were yet loaded with it. The people of the country
call the common Firs *«!<«>?, which differ in nothing from thofe which grow on the Alps and the Pyrenees
; but they have preferved the name ftinj for another fine fpecies, which I had not previoufly feen
except around this Monaftery." Steven records it as growing on the fummits of the Imcritian Mountains
in Upper Mingrelia, alfo between Guriel and the Adfcharienfan Mountains. Lambert gives
figures of the details of fpecimens which he had received from China and the neighbourhood of Tiflis,
and which he thought belonged to this fpecies: but it has been doubted whether either of thefe truly
belong
belong to it ; and one of them certainly does not. Confequently, the habitat of this fpecies, fo far as
yet known, does not extend greatly beyond the regions to the eaft of the Black Sea, Trebizond not
lying very far from its fouth-eaft corner.
Hijlory.—This tree was firft noticed by Belon (latinifed Bellonius) in 1553. A work publifhed by
him in the following year, " Les Obfervations de plufieurs fingularités trouvés en Grèce, Afie, Judée,
Egypte, Arabie," fhews that he had travelled in or near the country where it is found. It was next noticed
by Tournefort ; and although his defcription is not fo minute in its details as the botanical defcriptions of
the prefent day, there is no reafon to doubt that this is the fpecies referred to by him, independently of its
geographical pofition, which correfponds fo nearly with that fubfequently affigned to it by Steven. There
is only one doubtful expreffion in Tournefort's defcription which would feem to point to the Silver Firs
inftead of the Spruces. He fays "that the leaves are ranged like thofe of our Firs, that is to fay, 'en branch
aplatie.'" It is not quite clear what this means. It cannot, however, mean that the leaves are dichotomoufly
fpread out flat on each fide like the leaves in Silver Firs, becaufe the reft of the defcription distinctly
gives it all the characters of the Spruce fection of Fir, fuch as pendent cones, tetragonal rigid leaves,
&c.; and Lambert having "been fortunate enough to obtain a copy of the drawing of Picea Orientalis, made
by Aubriet, under the eye of Tournefort himfelf," and having publifhed it, we know beyond doubt that the
fpecies defcribed by Tournefort is that which is now introduced into this country under that name. Linnoeus
and Beiberftein, in their notices of the fpecies, merely copied Tournefort's defcription above referred
to, and another fhort defcription given by him in the " Corollary" appended to his Injlitutiones rei
Herbarii. Lambert was the next author who contributed anything original on the fubject of this fpecies.
He had never feen either frelh or dried fpecimens of it, but he gave us the figure above referred to, taken
from the drawing in the poffeflion of M. de Juffieu himfelf. The copy, he tells us, was made by M.
Marefchal, painter to the Mufeum at Paris, " whofe talents are well known," and it was communicated to
him by M. Latreille. The drawing in Lambert's "Genus Pinus" is very characteriftic, and perfectly correfponds
with more recently received fpecimens, and with the young plants introduced into this country, feveral
of which have already fruited. In addition to his drawing of Tournefort's P. Orientalis, Mr Lambert gives
figures of the cones, and branches of two other cones received by him, the one from Tiflis, from Sir Gore
Oufeley, and the other from China, and both of which he fuppofed to be the fame as this. One of them,
that from China, is obvioufly different, and appears to belong to Ledebour's Picea obovata (Picea being
ufed by him in the fenfe of Abies). The other, from Tiflis, is more doubtful ; but it alfo feems diftindt.
We have never feen a leaf of A. Orientalis fo long as that from Sir Gore Oufeley's fpecimen, figured by
Lambert. The fcales of the cone are rhomboidal inftead of rounded, and the wing of the feed is differently
proportioned, being comparatively longer. Fig. 14 (hews the outline of the feed and its wing in all the
three figured by Lambert: the unbroken line giving the outline of the true A. Orientalis ; the
coarfely dotted line that of the Chinefe fpecimen which we refer to, viz. A. obovata ; and the \)J
finely dotted line that of the fpecimen from Tiflis, which is probably undefcribed. Steven is Fi6. .4.
the next author who fpeaks of it : but the additional information he gives is confined to its geographical
diftribution. The remaining writers content themfelves with repeating the information of thofe who have
preceded them.
Properties and Ufes.—We as yet know little from perfonal experience regarding this fpecies ; but
from the quotations above, taken from Tournefort, it would appear that it is ufed in the fame way as the
Common Spruce, and may therefore be inferred to have the fame properties.
Culture.—It appears to have been introduced into this country about 1838 or 1839. thrives well,
is perfectly hardy, and requires no particular attention or mode of cultivation. Mr Palmer received thirtylix
reports upon it, relating to the effefts of the winter of i860, and in no inftance were any of the plants
[ ,4 ] B injured.