Leaves simple, 2-rowed, exstipulate, evergreen ; linear. Flowers in catkins,
the males yellowish.— Trees evergreen; natives of Europe, Asia, and
America ; remarkable for their tall, erect, pyramidal forms, and profusion
of foliage. One or more species are useful, and tlie rest ornamental. In
Britain, they flower in May and June, and ripen their cones in the s[)ring of
the following year. All the species bear seeds at a comparatively early age ;
and all of them may be readily propagated by cuttings taken off in the
spring, according to Dumont De Courset ; or in autumn, according to the
practice of British gardeners. All the species hitherto introduced are quite
hardy in British gardens.
Our arrangement of thc species in British gardens is as under : —
§ i. Leaves tetragonal, awl-shaped, scattered in insertion.
A . Natives o f Europe and the Caucasus.
1. excélsa. 2. orientàlis. 3. obovàta.
B. Natives o f North Amenca.
4. áiba. .5. nigra. 6 . (n.) rubra.
C. Native o f Nepal. 7. Klmtrow.
J ii. Leaves flat, generally glaucous beneath, imperfectly 2-rowed.
D. Ndtives o f North America.
8 . Douglàsie 9. Menzicsii. 10. canadénsis.
E. Native o f Nepal, 1 1 . dumosa.
§ i. L e a v e s tetragonal.^ awl-shaped^ sca ttered in insertion.
A. Natives o f Europe and the Caucasus.
■ Í A. e x c e ' l s a D e c . The lofty, or Norway, Spruce Fir.
Identiflcation. Dec. Fl. F r., 3. ; Poir. Dict. Encyc., 6. p. 518. ; N. Du Ham., 6. p. 289.
Synonymes. A. commùnis Ilo rt. ; ^/'bies Píc ea Mill. Dict. No. 2. ; P in u s .á'bies L in . Sp. Pl. 1421.-
P . Píc ea Du Itoi Harbk. ed. Pott., 2. p. 15G. j P . excélsa Lam. Fl. Fr. ed. ). 2. p. 202. ; Pícea
vulgaris L in k in Abhand. p. 180. ; common Spruce, Prussian F ir ; faux Sapin, E'picea, Sapin-
Pesse, Sercnte, Sapin gentil, Finesse, Fr. ; Laiie, in tke Vosges ; gemeine rothe Tanne, gemeine
fichte, Gcr. ; Pezzo, Abete di Germania, or di Norvegia, Ital.
Engravings. Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 1. t. 35. ; N. Du Ilam., 6. t. 80. ; th e plates of this tree in Arb.
Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our dg. 1923.
Spec. Char., 4c. Leaves scattered, quadrangular. Cones cylindrical, termina!,
pendent ; scales naked, truncate at the summit, flat. Crest of the anthers
rounded. (Lois.) Cone from 5 in. to 7 in. long, and from in. to 2 in.
broad ; scale from 1 in. to l¿in. long, and from ^in. to fin. broad. Seed
very small, scarcely |-in. long, and yV^* broad ; with the wing, fin. long,
and fin. broad. Cotyledons 7 to 9. A lofty tree. North of Europe,
more particularly Norway. Height 80 ft. to 100 ft. Cultivated since I548.
It flowers in May ; its cones are ripened in the spring of the following year,
soon after which they commence shedding their seeds.
Varieties.
i A. c. 1 commùnis. The common Spruce, or White Fir of Norway.—
The foliage is shorter, more slender, and lighter-coloured, than in
the following form ; though the difference may be in part owing to
soil and situation.
t A. <?. 2 nigra. The black-leaved Spruce, or Red Fir of Norway. —
There is a tree in Studley Park, known there as the black spruce, of
which a portrait is given in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. In the
foliage, it answers to the description given of the red fir of Norway ;
its leaves being very thick, strong, and dark-coloured ; its bark red;
and its cones longer than those of the common spruce. Tlie leaves,
in the specimen sent to us, are I f in. in length ; and the cones from
in. to 6 in. long, and from I f in. to in. broad. The scales (see
10 2 7
fig . 192-2.) are mucli more pointed than those of the
common spruce, and longer.
t e ,? ' carpàtica //ori. _ This variety
ansf ttlh, at of the precedin"gf,o h ut lighter. “"d Ion"
t Z j T f Z ' te Pdndula B„ot/,. — T)isi
t s i Z H L ';y ft'o drooping habit of
Its blanches; and also by the darker glossy green
colour and greater length, of its leaves.
J- A. e. ofo/m vanegdti,. — heaves blotched with vellow
!peci!s ‘’"'"■^rowing tree than the’
seldom seen higher than .3 or 4 feet, and never, tliat '
TnnuA !l, T «Í producing either male or female blossoms. The
to ™n t Z t " - fo fo"Sth ; the leaves from 4 in!
® A f Z ' r / f fosliter than in the species.
« A. o. 7 C/«ire«/,ana rficta. - More erect than the preceding varietv
• ■ ® pygmoea. A. nana in the Horticultural Society’s Garden • A
elegans « » a tta /Ayr. _m „ ,r f c r than A. e. C la n b r a lJ te ’ “
a n d s h t e f ■ ri'^T/’-.-V e ry slender leaves
Î A c 1 0 gigante'«. A gigantea SmUh o f Ayr. - Leaves rather larger
and stronger than those of the species.
* A 1 1 monstròsa. A. monstròsa Shoots and leaves thicker
than those of the species, with few or no lateral branches,
te te ' Hort. — Leaves disposed on the branches like
those of Arancaria nnhricita. The only plant that we know of is in
the nuiseiy of the Grand Trianon. (See Gard. Mag. for 1841.)
Olhr JW f c maybe found in the nurseries and in books; for the tree is
very hable to sport both in its hranches and in the seed bed. Bosc mentions
avaiiety which had been sent to him from the Vosges, with the leaves flatter
and more pointed than the common spruce, and with different cones. Hayes
C t e n “ f " “" "y ‘fo® ®Pro®e. which lias been denominated the
long-concd Cornish fir, the cones being frequently nearly 1 ft. Ion"- and of
whicfo.m the year 1790, there was a fine tree in tlie park ! f AvondSc in tim
county of Wicklow. {Pract. Treat., p. 105.) Pinus viminàlis AktrJm the
Hongetamie (weeping fir) of Sweden, with long slender pendulous leafless
twigs IS frequently found there in fir woods (see Link, Abhand. p I8 ‘»')
but has not yet been introduced. There is a very beautiful variety“'?
Haicwood Hall in Yorkshire (see Arb. Brit., 1st edit., p. 2599.) which we
believe has not been propagated. Linnæus has five varieties in his Phra
diT wh'-t ‘o Gartner ‘he species is exhibited in two forms, called
he wh te and the red Norway spruce ; one with pale, and the otitei w fo
deep-coloured, cones , but the timber of both is white.
In tate-?"'* "P'T®® '''■fo fosht, elastic, and varying in durability according
wh e ™d te"'fo'®fote‘ fo" 8™""'- F fo «fofo®*- » ‘-eddish or I yellowish
white, and It IS mucdi less resinous than thc wood of P. sylvéstris. Accordin"to
Hartig, It weighs 641b. 1 1 oz. per cubic foot when green 4 9 lb 5 oz when hnlf
drte’n r l h e ''- te “ ' ? ' ’®"?""® " t e ’' " fo™ " " fo"'" ® " ® f o
tuittyv ootf rreessiinn , fiom wt heic'h PB'nr“g»n»fnod /y pitch is“ m'"a''dke .p roTduhcee sr easnin imis moebntasein q??u atn„--
S!t he d! i tmi tre de"T lf '“" ’tfeo "' ""»" teto-ronng’’ ®it‘ "w'®i®ll " h‘ef offoo u“ndfo d‘feo®ta riolefdt wino oodu ;,
ing m te te 11 ‘"''"e'P»' "®® which the wood is applied is, for scaffbld-
S r a t e t è n, re""“ ®' "foiefo P‘"'Poses,
atee mfo ttehiee fonn of enttiere° t'nfoi®n k™s,P ®of?tefon‘ ®w".®it h th"eP “ba'®r®k foil-n ,t ifmrobmer 3f0r ofmt tNo o6rw0 afty
3 u 2