I
1 0 3 0 A U B O K E T U M ET' F R U T IC E T U M B R IT A N N IC U M .
of the scale, scarcely broader than the wing
of the fruit, which is straight on both margins
towards the apex. Found on the Altai Mountains,
at an elevation of 5272 ft. Flowering in
May ; not yet introduced.
Professor Don informs us that he strongly suspects
this tree to be only a northern form of A'bies
Smithian«. Ledebour, he says, has committed the
same error in regard to his P. obovàta, as Dr.
Wallich did in the case of A'bies Smithian« ; that
is, he has described the cones as erect, while, from
the other parts of his description, the tree must
belong to the genus A'bies.
B. Natives o f North America.
1 4. A. a ' l b a Michx. The white Spruce Fir.
VS If p. ^
D u Roi Harbk. p. 124. ; A. curvifblia Hort. ; single Spruce, Amer. ; Epinette blanche, Canada.
L a lib . P ta ., ed. 2., I. t. 36. ; Miohx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 148. ; th e plate of this tree
in Arh. Brit., 1st edit., vol vili. ; and o u r * . 1928.
Spec. Char., f r . Leaves somewhat glaucous, scattered round the branches,
erect quadrangular. Cones oblong-cylindrical, pendulous, lax ; scales with
entir^ margins. (Michx.) Cones from Ifin . to entire {Mi c n x . ) L e o n e s i i o m l u 2 Jin . ll uoungg,, aauncdi »frwowm. -Jgi-xn. ..
to f in. broad j on the tree at Dropmore, 4 in. long. Seed very small '^ n th
the wino-, ^in. long, broad. Leaves fin. long; on the tree at Dropmore,
twice the length of those of A. nigra, very glaucous when they first
come out. A tree. Canada to Carolina, throughout the tracts of high
mountains. Height 40 ft. to 50 ft. Introduced in 1700. It flowers m
May and June, and the cones are ripe in the April following.
a. g nàna Dickson of the Chester Nursery.—A low-growing plant,
apparently somewhat distinct.
Olher Varieties. Loiseleur Deslongchamps states that, according to the
specimens of A. orientàlis which Tournefort brought from the Levant, this
alleged species cannot be separated from A. alba. He therefore introduces
A. orientàlis Tourn., Poir. Dict. vi. p. 508., and Lamb. Pin. ed. 1. ii. t.39„
as a variety of A. àlba. We have retained it as a species (No. 2.), though
we have great doubts as to its distinctness.
The general aspect of the white spruce is much lighter than that of any
other species of the genus. The bark is considerably lighter in colour than
mm.
L X X V I I . c o n i ' f e r æ ; ^ ' b i e s . 1 0 3 1
that of any other spruce; the leaves are also less numerous, longer more
pointed at a more open angle with the branches, and of a pale bluish gteeten
Ihe male catkins are pendulous, on long footstalks, and of a brownish y d lo ?
The female catkins are ovate and pendulous. Whri ripe, the c o r s aretemau'
of a lengthened oval in shape, and a light brown colour; the scales are loosi!
and thin, round or bluntly pointed, with entire edges. The seeds are minute
with a small wing, and npen a month earlier than those of the black
spruce When the tree is agitated with the wind, or when the co!es ari
“ "K”“ P'fo
attain the height of from 3 0 ft. to 4 0 ft. ; but in dry soils it seldom reaches sXSr^s^L^Æi ter-
I 5. A . n i ' g r a Poir. The black Spruce Fir.
Poir, Diet. Encyc., 6. p. 520.: Michx. N Amor «îv! ii
iii A rb ?^ rit., 1st. edit./vol.'vi'ii.; and 192^ ' ®’‘' Plate of this tree
te®“™" solitary, regularly disposed all round the branches ;
elect, very short somewhat quadrangular. Cones ovate, pendulous ; scales
remewhat undulated; the apex ofthe scale crenulated or divided. (Michx 1
Cones from IJin. to I f in. long, and from fin . to nearly 1 in. broad. Seed
ather larger than that of A. âlba, but the wing smaller. Leaves from ■ f„
o m. ong. A large tree. Canada to Carolina, throughout the tracS of
high mountains. Height 6 0 ft. to 7 0 ft. Introduced i n i 70 0 . Flowering
May 01 June, and ripening its cones in the following April.
’ “Z i Z i 1, "li"" g®"®ra>l.y designated as A. rùbra (P . ri'ibra Lamb.) is asserted
by Michaux to be only a variety, or rather variation, of A nio-ra
produced by the influence of the soil on the wood, but we have treated it
as a subspecies, as it is tolerably distinct, and, at present, not common
tl,o^steo“ N o 7 t e : ; i ; r e T " fo™ fo-ction, Uke
and, consequently, the black
spruce (notwithstanding the
darkness of its foliage) has
not the gloomy aspect of the
European tree. The bark is
smooth and blacki.sh. The
leaves are of a dark sombre
green; they are short, being
scarcely Jin. long, thickly set,
stiff, and are attached singly
to the branches, which they
cover all round. The male
catkins are cylindrical, erect,
and on peduncles ; about 1 in.
long ; yellowish, with red-
hpped anthers. The female
catkins are oval, and at first
erect, but soon become pen- » 29. a. Mgr,.
th o Z r - ‘fo®} and almost black, when young; but become,
when npe, of a dusky reddish brown. When full-grown, they are about
rm Z 1 ®’ ™ L-* i" fo'»“ ®‘®'' ‘fo® “ iddi®- The scales are blunt,
titete k i?.®£ ’ te roP®’ ™ssed and torn on the margin, and somehalf
thiough the scale. The seeds arc small, scarcely more than a line
3 u 4