ft The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed as a digital facsimile at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/ ï, 'IV, ; *- ï'tffriï^'-'. m^^. fiäfe.' >fe; - T;^,*:"- « 'wifc. .-^"^.. ,4- G e t B i tain Ireland BY Henry John Elwes, F.R.S, AND •:. % Augustine Henry, M.A. Edinburgh: Privately Printed F \" V THE TREES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND > * VK <«* \ , i \ .*•>** '.V NATIVE SCOTS PINE AT INVERGARR\ Fiom a Drawing by Miss Ruth Brand *.«•:' ..y *!• .t - "., v > The Trees of Great Britain £3 à'v v ' ' BY Henry John Elwes, F.R.S. Ireland AND Augustine Henry, M.A. VOLUME IV Edinburgh : Privately Printed MCMIX CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .... ABIES ...... ABIES PECTINATA, COMMON SILVER FIR ABIFS PINSAPO, SPANISH FIR ABIES NUMIDICA, ALGERIAN FIR ABIES CEPHAI.ONICA, GREEK FIR ABIES CILICICA, CILICIAN FIR ABIES NORDMANNIANA, CAUCASIAN FlR ABIES WEBBIANA, HIMALAYAN FIR . ABIES PINDROW, PINDROW FIR ABIES SIBIRICA, SIBERIAN FIR ABIES SACHALINENSIS, SAGHALIEN FIR ABIES FIRMA, JAPANESE FIR ABIFS HOMOLEPIS ..... ABIES BRACHYPHYLLA, NlKKO FlR . ABIES UMBELLATA ..... ABIES VEITCHII, VEITCH'S FIR ABIES MARIESII, MARIES' FIR ABIES GRANDIS, GIANT FIR .... ABIES CONCOLOR, COLORADO FIR ABIES LOWIANA, CALIFORNIAN FIR . ABIES AMAMLIS, LOVELY FIR ABIES NOEILIS, NOBLE FIR .... ABIES MAGNiFicA, RED FIR, SHASTA FIR ABIES BRACTEATA, BRISTLE-CONE FlR ABIES LASIOCARPA, ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIR . AlilES BALSAMEA, BALSAM FlR ABIES FRASERI, SOUTHERN BALSAM FIR ABIES RELIGIOSA, MEXICAN FIR PSEUDOTSUGA ..... PSEUDOTSUGA DOUGLASII, DOUGLAS FlR CASTANEA ...... CASTANEA SATIVA, SPANISH OR SWEET CHESTNUT . Hi VI1 713 720 732 737 739 744 746 75° 755 758 760 762 764 765 768 768 771 773 777 779 782 786 792 796 800 803 806 808 811 814 837 839 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland Contents V M CASTANEA CRENATA, JAPANESE CHESTNUT CASTANEA DENTATA, AMERICAN CHESTNUT . CASTANEA PUMILA, CHINQUAPIN FRAXINUS ...... FRAXINUS EXCELSIOR, COMMON ASH FRAXINUS ANGUSTIFOLIA, NARROW-LEAVED ASH FRAXINUS OXYCARPA .... FRAXINUS SYRIACA ..... FRAXINUS ELONZA ..... FRAXINUS WILLDENOWIANA .... FRAXINUS DIMORPHA .... FRAXINUS XANTHOXYLOIDES .... FRAXINUS POTAMOPHILA .... FRAXINUS RAIBOCARPA .... FRAXINUS HOLOTRICHA .... FRAXINUS ORNUS, FLOWERING ASH, MANNA ASH . FRAXINUS FLORIBUNDA .... FRAXINUS BUNGEANA .... FRAXINUS MARIESII ..... FRAXINUS RHYNCHOPHYLLA .... FRAXINUS MANDSHURICA .... FRAXINUS CHINENSIS .... FRAXINUS OEOVATA .... FRAXINUS PUEINERVIS .... FRAXINUS SPAETHIANA FRAXINUS LONGICUSPIS .... FRAXINUS NIGRA, BLACK ASH FRAXINUS ANOMALA, UTAH ASH FRAXINUS QUADRANGULATA, BLUE ASH FRAXINUS AMERICANA, WHITE ASH . FRAXINUS TEXENSIS, TEXAN ASH FRAXINUS BILTMOREANA, BILTMORE ASH FRAXINUS LANCEOLATA, GREEN ASH FRAXINUS PENNSYLVANIA, RED ASH FRAXINUS OREGONA, OREGON ASH . FRAXINUS CAROLINIANA, SWAMP ASH FRAXINUS VELUTINA ZELKOVA ...... ZELKOVA CRENATA . . . ... ZELKOVA ACUMINATA .... 854 856 857 859 864 8?9 882 883 883 884 884 885 885 886 887 887 890 891 892 892 893 895 895 896 897 897 898 900 900 901 9°5 906 907 908 910 912 912 914 CELTIS ..... CELTIS AUSTRALIS, NETTLE TREE . CELTIS CAUCASICA .... CELTIS GLABRATA .... CELTIS DAVIDIANA .... CELTIS OCCIDENTALS, HACKP.ERRV . CELTIS CRASSIFOLIA, HACKBERRY CELTIS MISSISSIPPIENSIS ALNUS ..... ALNUS GLUTINOSA, COMMON ALDER ALNUS INCANA, GREY ALDER ALNUS CORDATA, ITALIAN ALDER ALNUS SUBCORDATA, CAUCASIAN ALDER ALNUS FIRMA .... ALNUS JAPONICA, JAPANESE ALDER . ALNUS NITIDA, HIMALAYAN ALDER . ALNUS MARITIMA .... ALNUS RUERA, OREGON ALDER ALNUS TENUIFOLIA .... ALNUS RHOMEIFOLIA BETULA ..... BETULA PUBESCENS, COMMON BIRCH BETULA VERRUCOSA, SILVER BIRCH . BETULA DAVURICA . BETULA CORYLIFOLIA BETULA MAXIMOWICZII BETULA ERMANI .... BETULA ULMIFOLIA .... BETULA LUMINIFERA BETULA UTILIS, HIMALAYAN BIRCH . BETULA PAPYRIFERA, PAPER BIRCH, CANOE BIRCH BETULA POPULIFOLIA, GREY BIRCH . BETULA NIGRA, RED BIRCH BETULA LUTEA, YELLOW BIRCH BETULA LENTA, CHERRY BIRCH, BLACK BIRCH BETULA FONTINALIS .... DlOSPYROS ..... DlOSPYROS VIRGINIANA, AMERICAN PERSIMMON DIOSPYROS LOTUS, DATE-PLUM 925 926 928 929 929 93° 932 933 935 937 945 949 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 962 966 974 975 976 977 979 980 980 983 987 988 99° 991 992 995 996 999 920 6 \ ILLUSTRATIONS Native Scots Pine at Invergarry (from a drawing by Miss Ruth Brand) . Frontispiece PLATE No. Silver Fir at Cowdray . . ... . 208 Silver Fir at Longleat . . . ... 209 Silver Fir at Roseneath . . . .... 210 Silver Fir at Tullymore .... ...211 Spanish Fir in Andalusia .... ... 212 Spanish Fir at Longleat . ......213 Greek Fir at Barton . . . ....214 Himalayan Fir in Sikkirn . . . . . 215 Japanese Fir in Japan . . .....216 Giant Fir at Eastnor Castle ... ....217 Giant Fir in Vancouver's Island ..... . 218 Californian Fir at Linton . . . . . . . .219 Lovely Fir in British Columbia . . . . . . . .220 Noble Fir in Oregon . . . . . . . .221 Red or Shasta Fir at Bayfordbury . ..... 222 Red or Shasta Fir at Bonskeid . . . . . . .223 Bristle-cone Fir at Eastnor Castle . . . ... 224 Rocky Mountain Fir in Montana . ... 225 Mexican Fir at Fola . . ... 226 Douglas Fir on Barkley's Farm . . . . . . 227 Douglas Fir Forest in Vancouver's Island . . . 228 Douglas Fir at Eggesford . . . . . 229 Douglas Fir at Lynedoch . . . . ... 230 Douglas Fir at Tortworth . . . ... 231 Spanish Chestnut Grove at Bicton . . . . . . . .232 Spanish Chestnut at Althorp ......... 233 Spanish Chestnut at Thoresby . . . . . . . 234 Spanish Chestnut at Rydal . . . . . . . . • 235 Spanish Chestnut at Rossanagh . . . . . . . .236 vii Vlll The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland Japanese Chestnut at Atera, Japan . Weeping Ash at Elvaston Castle Tall Ash at Cobham Park . Twisted Ash at Cobham Park Tall Ash at Ashridge . Ash at Woodstock, Kilkenny Ash at Castlewellan . Diseased Ash at Colesborne ; Deformed Ash at Cirencester Narrow-leaved Ash at Rougham Hall White Ash at Kew . • • Biltmore Ash at Fawley Court Zelkova crenata at Wardour Castle . Zelkova crenata at Glasnevin Zelkova acuminata at Carlsruhe Celtis occidentalis at West Dean Park Alders at Lilford . Alders at Kilmacurragh Italian Alder at Tottenham House, Savernake Birch at Savernake Forest Birch at Merton Hall . Birches in Sherwood Forest . Gnarled Birches in Glenmore Paper Birch at Bicton . Yellow Birch at Oriel Temple Diospyros virginiana at Kew . Fraxinus ; leaves, etc. • Fraxinus ; leaves, etc. . Fraxinus ; leaves, etc. Fraxinus ; leaves, etc. • Fraxinus; leaves, etc. . Moms, Celtis, and Zelkova ; leaves, etc. Alnus.; leaves, etc. . Betula ; leaves, etc. . Betula; leaves, etc. . PLATE No. 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 ABIES A^ies, Linnaeus, Gen. PL 294 (in part) (1737); Bentham et Hooker, Gen. PI. iii. 441 (1880); Masters, Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot) xxx. 34 (1893); Hickel, Bull. Soc. Dendr. France, 1907, pp. 5, 41, and 82 ; 1908, pp. 5 and 179. Picea, D. Don, in Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iv. 2293 (1838). EVERGREEN trees belonging to the order Coniferae ; bark containing numerous resin- vesicles ; branches whorled. Buds, with numerous imbricated scales, with or without resin, usually two to five at the ends of the branchlets, the central bud terminal and largest, the others surrounding it in a circle on upright shoots, whilst on lateral branchlets those on the upper side are not developed ; buds also occur rarely and few in number in the axils of the leaves on the branchlets below. Branchlets of one kind, usually smooth, but in certain species grooved, with raised pulvini ; each season's shoot * marked by a sheath at the base, composed of the persistent bud- scales of the previous spring. Leaves on fertile and barren branchlets, often different in length and thickness and in the nature of the apex ; arising from the branchlets in spiral order, radially disposed on vertical shoots, but variously arranged according to the species on lateral branchlets ; persisting for many years and giving the tree a dense mass of foliage ; leaving as they fall circular scars on the branchlets ; sessile, but usually narrowed just above the expanded circular base ; linear, flattened and thin in most species, quadrangular in section in a few species ; ventral surface always with two greyish or white stomatic bands, one on each side of the raised green midrib ; dorsal surface with or without stomata, which when present are either in continuous lines, as in the quadrangular-leaved species, or are confined to near the tip of the leaf in the middle line, as in some flat-leaved species ; apex acute, acuminate, or obtuse, notched or entire, spine-pointed in one or two species ; resin-canals 2 two, constant in position for each species in the leaves on lateral branchlets, but in some species3 differing in position in the leaves on the upright or fertile branchlets, either median, 1 In A. bracteata, all the bud-scales usually fall off, leaving ring-like scars at the base of the shoot. 2 The position of the resin-canals is easily seen on examining a thin section with a lens ; and can often be made out by squeezing the leaf, after it is cut across, when the resin will be observed exuding from the two canals. 3 In A. pectinata, A. ccphalonica, and A. Nordmanniana, the resin-canals are marginal in the leaves of lateral branches, and are median in the leaves of cone-bearing branches. Cf. Guinier and Maire, in Bull. Soc. Bot, France, Iv. 189 (1908). IV 713 B 714 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland when situated in the substance of the leaf about equidistant between its upper and lower surfaces, or marginal or sub-epidermal, when placed in the lower part of the leaf close to the epidermis ; fibro-vascular bundle simple in some species, divided into two parts in other species. Flowers monoecious, the two sexes on separate branchlets ; male flowers usually abundant and on the lower side of the branchlets over the upper half of the tree ; female cones on the upper side of the branchlets, usually only near the top of the tree, but in some species borne all over the upper half of the tree. Staminate flowers,1 solitary in the axils of the leaves of the preceding year's shoot ; stamens spirally crowded on a central axis, anthers surmounted by a knob-like projection and dehiscing transversely. Female cones,1 arising as short shoots, composed of numerous imbricated fan-shaped ovuliferous scales, and an equal number of much longer mucronate bracts ; ovules inverted, two on each scale. Mature cones erect on the branchlets, composed of closely imbricated woody scales, more or less fan-shaped with short stalks. Bracts adnate to the outer surface of the scales at the base ; either concealed between the scales or with their tips exserted and then often reflexed over the margin of the scale next below ; dilated at the apex, entire or two-lobed, prolonged into a triangular mucro. Seeds two on the inner surface of each scale, winged, and with resin-vesicles. The cones ripen in one season ; and the scales, bracts, and seeds fall away from the central spindle-like axis of the cone, which persists for a long time on the tree. The seedling has four to ten cotyledons, stomatiferous on their upper surface. The species of Abies are distinguishable from all other conifers by the circular base of the leaves, which on falling leave circular scars on the branchlets. The species of Abies have been variously divided into sections by different authors, but no satisfactory arrangement has yet been made out. M ay r proposed three sections based on the colour of the cones ; but, as Sargent2 points out, colour is not a constant character in several species. The cones are of value in the dis crimination of the species, by taking into account their age, general appearance, and characters as a whole ; but the scales are often very variable in shape in the same species, and the bracts, while more constant in form, often show considerable variation in their length. It is most convenient, in practice, especially as cones are in most cases not available for examination, to group the species, according to the characters of the buds, branchlets, and foliage, which are, as a rule, very constant in the same species. Hickel3 proposes three sections, based on the characters of the branchlets and buds ; but his division is artificial, as it separates species closely allied by the characters of their cones. Some notes on the genus Abies, for which we are indebted to Mr. J. D. Crozier, forester to H. R. Baird, Esq. of Durris, Kincardineshire, are inserted. Mr. Crozier's long experience in the east of Scotland gives a special value to his opinion on their respective qualities for planting in Scotland, which our own 1 Both the Staminate flowers and the young female cones are surrounded at the base by involucres of bud-scales. 2 Sitva N. Amer. xii. 97, adnot. (1898). Sargent proposes three sections, based on the characters of the leaves. 3 Bull. Soc. Dendr. France, 1907, p. II. Abies 715 could not have, though in almost every case he confirms the conclusions at which we had already arrived. About thirty species are known, of which twenty-six have been introduced and are distinguished below. The silver firs are natives of the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere, usually occurring in mountainous regions ; attaining high elevations towards the south, as in Guatemala, Algeria, Himalayas, and Formosa; and descending to low levels in the extreme north, as Alaska, Labrador, and Siberia. The following table is based upon characters taken from the foliage, buds, and shoots of lateral branches, occurring on the lower part of the tree. As regards the leaves, their arrangement upon the branchlets, the position of the resin-canals, and whether the apex is entire or bifid must be noted. The presence of stomata on the upper surface of the leaf is peculiar to certain species. The young shoots are either smooth or deeply grooved with prominent pulvini ; and are glabrous in some species, pubescent in others, the pubescence when present being either confined to the grooves or spread over the whole branchlet. The buds vary in size and shape and also in the quantity of resin, which in some cases is so slight that they may be described as non-resinous ; whilst in other species the scales are covered with or deeply immersed in resin. Certain species are distinguishable at a glance by some prominent character. A. bracteata has a bud entirely different from that of any other species. A. Pinsapo, with its short, thick, rigid leaves, standing out radially from the shoot, is unmis takable. A. cephalonica, with a more imperfect radial arrangement, is distinguished by its long flattened leaves ending in a single sharp cartilaginous point. A. ßrma is peculiar in its remarkably broad very coriaceous leaves, which end in two sharp unequal points. A. grandis has the leaves quite pectinate in the horizontal plane, those of the upper rank about half the size of those below. A. Mariesii is dis tinguished by the shoot being densely covered with a ferruginous tomentum. A. brachyphylla and A. Webbiana have deeply-furrowed shoots with prominent pulvini, which become more marked in the second year ; and the bark begins to scale very early on the branches and trunk of the tree. A. nobilis and A. magnißca are peculiar in the upper median leaves curving up from the shoot after being appressed to it for some distance. A. Pindrow has long pale green leaves very irregularly arranged. I. Leaves radially arranged on the branchlets ; apex of the leaf not bifid. 1. Abies Pinsapo, Boissier. Spain. See p. 732. Leaves rigid, short, less than f inch long, thick, acute at the apex ; resin- canals median. Shoots glabrous. Buds resinous. 2. Abies cephalonica, Loudon. Greece. See p. 739. Leaves thin, flattened, about i inch long, ending in a sharp cartilaginous point ; resin-canals marginal. Shoots glabrous. Buds resinous. In van Apollinis, the radial arrangement is imperfect, and the leaves end in a short point. 716 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland II. Leaves on the lateral branches pectinate in arrangement; the t^vo lateral sets either in one plane, or with their upper ranks directed upwards as well as outwards, showing a V-shaped depression, as seen from above, between the two sets. * Resin-canals marginal? 3. Abies bracteata, Nuttall. California. See p. 796. Leaves long, 2 inches or more, rigid, ending in a spine-like point. Shoots glabrous. Buds peculiar in the genus, elongated, fusiform, membranous, non-resinous. 4. Abies grandis, Lindley. Western N. America. See p. 773. Leaves all in one plane, those in the upper rank about half the length of those below, up to 2 inches long, bifid at the apex ; upper surface grooved and without stomata. Shoots minutely pubescent. Buds small, resinous. 5. Abies Lowiana, Murray. California. See p. 779. Leaves in a V-shaped arrangement, I\ to 2^ inches long, bifid at the apex ; upper surface grooved and with eight lines of stomata. Shoots and buds as in A. grandis. 6. Abiesßrma, Siebold and Zuccarini. Japan. See p. 762. Leaves in a V-shaped arrangement, rigid, very coriaceous, broad, up to \\ inch long, ending in two sharp cartilaginous points. Shoots pubescent in the furrows between the slightly raised pulvini. Buds small, ovoid, only slightly resinous. 7. Abies homolepis, Siebold and Zuccarini. Japan. See p. 764- Leaves in arrangement and appearance like A. ßrma ; but shorter, less coriaceous, narrower, and whiter beneath. Shoots with prominent pulvini, glabrous. Buds ovoid, resinous, larger than in A. ßrma. 8. Abiespectinata, De Candolle. Europe. See p. 720. Leaves pectinate in one plane or tending to a V-shaped arrangement, about an inch long, slightly bifid at the apex. Shoot grey, with short pubescence. Buds ovoid, non-resinous. 9. Abies Webbiana, Lindley. Himalayas. See p. 750. Leaves V-shaped in arrangement, up to 2^ inches long, bifid, silvery white beneath. Shoots with prominent pulvini and deep grooves, with a reddish pubescence confined to the grooves. Buds large, globose, resinous. ** Resin-canals median? to. Abies balsamea, Miller. Eastern N. America. See p. 803. Leaves slender, scarcely i inch long, bifid at the apex, with six to eight lines of stomata in each band on the lower surface. Shoots, smooth, grey, with scattered short erect grey pubescence. Buds globose, resinous. 11. Abies Fraseri, Poiret. Alleghany Mountains. See p. 806. Leaves as in A. balsamea, but shorter and whiter beneath, with eight to 1 A. cilicica and A. numidica, with weak shoots, come in this section. See Nos. 22 and 23. 2 Abies lasiocarfa, Nuttall, often has the leaves more or less pectinate, and might be sought for here. See No. 26. Abies 717 twelve lines of stomata in each band beneath. Shoots smooth, yellowish, with dense reddish curved or twisted pubescence. Buds globose, resinous. 12. Abies brachyphy lia, Maximowicz.1 Japan. Seep. 765. Leaves in a V-shaped arrangement, short, scarcely exceeding f inch, slightly bifid, white beneath. Shoots glabrous, with prominent pulvini and deep grooves. Buds conical, resinous. III. Leaves on lateral branches not pectinate above, but densely crowded, those in the middle hne directed forwards in imbricated ranks, their bases not being appressed to the branchlet. On the lower side of the shoot the leaves are in two lateral sets. * Resin-canals marginal? 13. Abies Nordmanniana, Spach.3 Caucasus, Northern Asia Minor. See p. 746. Leaves up to \\ inch long, with rounded bifid apex. Shoots smooth, with short scattered erect pubescence. Buds ovoid, brown, non-resinous. 14. Abies amabilis, Forbes. Western N. America. See p. 782. Leaves in arrangement and size like those of A. Nordmanniana, but much darker shining green, and with a truncate bifid apex ; they emit a fragrant odour when bruised. Shoots smooth, with short wavy pubescence. Buds small, globose, resinous. 15. Abies religiosa, Schlechtendal. Mexico, Guatemala. See p. 808. Leaves about i inch long, gradually narrowing from the middle to the usually entire apex, which is occasionally slightly emarginate. Shoots with prominent pulvini and dense minute erect pubescence. Buds shortly cylindrical, resinous. The median upper leaves are much less numerous than in the two preceding species. 16. Abies Mariesii, Masters. Japan, Formosa. See p. 771. Leaves shorter and broader than in Abies Veitchii, widest in their upper third, with a rounded and bifid apex. Shoot densely covered with a ferruginous tomentum. Buds small, globose, resinous. ** Resin-canals median. 17. Abies Veitchii, Lindley. Japan. Seep. 768. Leaves up to i inch long, truncate and bifid at the apex, uniform in width, very white beneath, with nine to ten lines of stomata in each band. Shoots smooth, covered with dense short erect pubescence. Buds small, globose, resinous. The upper median leaves, pointing forwards, stand off from the shoot at a wider angle than in A. Nordmanniana. 1 Abies umbellata, Mayr, is said to be very similar in foliage to this species. See the description of this species, p. 768. 2 A. numidica with strong shoots, is distinguished from all these species by the leaves of the upper side being directed backwards. See No. 23. 3 A. cilicica, with strong shoots, resembles a weak A. Nordmanniana. See No. 22. 718 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 18. Abies sachalinensis, Masters. Saghalien, Yezo, Kurile Isles. See p. 760. Leaves long and slender, up to if inch, uniform in width, with a rounded and bifid apex, white beneath, seven to eight lines in each stomatic band. Shoots with prominent pulvini, and a dense short pubescence confined to the grooves. Buds small, globose, resinous. 19. Abies sibirica, Ledebour. N. E. Russia, Siberia, Turkestan. See p. 758. Leaves long and slender, up to i J inch, uniform in width ; apex rounded and either slightly bifid or entire ; four to five lines in each stomatic band beneath. Shoots ashy grey, quite smooth, with a scattered minute pubescence. Buds small, globose, resinous. IV. Leaves on lateral branches not pectinate above; those in the middle line covering the branchlet, and curving itpwards after being appressed to the shoot for some distance at their base. The leaves are in two lateral sets on the lower side of the branchlet. Resin-canals marginal. 20. Abies nobilis, Lindley. Washington, Oregon, California. See p. 786. Leaves above closely appressed by their bases to the branchlet, which they completely conceal ; about i inch long, entire at the apex, flattened, grooved on the upper surface in the middle line ; stomata usually present on both surfaces. Shoots with a dense, short brown pubescence. Terminal buds girt at the base by a ring of acute or subulately-pointed pubescent scales. 21. Abies magnißca, Murray. Oregon, California. Seep. 792. Leaves above appressed at their bases, for a short distance only, to the branchlet, which they do not completely conceal ; longer than in A. nobilis, up to if inch, entire at the apex, quadrangular in section, not grooved on the upper surface ; stomata always present on both surfaces. Shoots and buds as in A. nobilis. V. Leaves on lateral branches arranged in two ways, which are often observable on the same tree, and depend vipon the vigour of the shoots. 22. Abies cilicica, Carrière. Asia Minor. See p. 744. Leaves either (A) pectinate above with a V-shaped depression between the lateral sets, or (B) with the median leaves above crowded and covering the branchlet, as in A. Nordmanniana. The leaves are slender, up to \\ inch long, not conspicuously white below, slightly bifid at the rounded or acute apex ; resin-canals marginal. Shoots smooth, with scattered short erect pubescence. Buds small, ovoid, non-resinous. Vigorous shoots of this species resemble a weak A. Nordmanniana ; but with the leaves shorter, more slender, and less white beneath, the buds being much smaller. 23. A. numidica, De Lannoy. Algeria. See p. 737. Leaves either (A) pectinate above with a V-shaped depression ; or (B) crowded and covering the upper side of the branchlet, but different from Abies 719 all other species in the median leaves above, in that case, being directed backwards and not forwards. Leaves short, up to f inch long, broad, rounded at the entire or slightly bifid apex ; in most cases with four to six broken lines of stomata on their upper surface near the tip ; resin-canals marginal. Shoots brown, shining, glabrous. Buds large, ovoid, non- resmous. VI. Leaves irregularly arranged; those on the lower side of the branches not truly pectinate. 24. Abies Pindroiv, Spach. W. Himalayas. See p. 755. Leaves all directed more or less forwards ; those above irregularly and imper fectly covering the branchlet ; those below mostly pectinate, but with some directed downwards and forwards. Leaves soft, pale green, up to z\ inches long, bifid at the apex with two sharp cartilaginous points ; resin-canals marginal. Shoots grey, glabrous. Buds large, globose, resinous. 25. Abies concolor, Lindley and Gordon. Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Northern Mexico, Southern California. See p. 777. Leaves imperfectly pectinate both above and below, some in the middle line being always directed forwards and not laterally outwards ; up to 2 to 3 inches long ; apex entire ; upper surface convex and not grooved, bearing fifteen to sixteen lines of stomata ; resin-canals marginal. Shoots smooth, olive-green, glabrous. Bud large, conical, resinous. 26. Abies lasiocarpa, Nuttall. Western N. America. See p. 800. Leaves either (A) in an imperfect pectinate arrangement, or (B) with most of the leaves directed upwards, those in the middle line above crowded, and standing edgeways ; i^ inches long, narrow, usually entire, with con spicuous lines of stomata on the upper surface, especially in its anterior half. Resin-canals median. Shoots smooth, with a moderately dense, short wavy pubescence. Buds small, conical, resinous. Four species, A. Delavayi, Franchet;1 A. Fargesii, Franchet ;2 A. squamata, Masters ;8 and A. recurvata, Masters ; * occur in the mountains of western China and are not included in the above list. The two first species are reported by Masters to have been introduced by Wilson ; but, on inquiry, we find that only one species of Abies from China is now growing in the Coombe Wood nursery. It is probably A. Fargesii; but, as the plants are still very young, we are uncertain of this identification, and think it best to leave this species undescribed for the present. (A. H.) ^ Journ. de Bot. 1899, p. 255; Masters, Gard. Chron. xxxix. 212, fig. 82(1906). 2 Journ. de Bot. 1899, p. 256 ; Masters, Gard. Chron. xxxix. 212, fig. 83 (1906). 3 Gard. Chron. xxxix. 299, fig. 121 (1906), snujourti. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xxxvii. 423 (1906). 4 Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xxxvii. 423 (1906). The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland ABIES PECTIN AT A, COMMON SILVER FIR Abiespectinata, De Candolle, in Lamarck, More Franc, iii. 276 (1805); Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 112 (1887); Mathieu, Flore Forestière, 525 (1897); Kent, Veitch's Man. Conifères, 530 (1900). Abies alba,1 Miller, Diet. ed. 8, No. i (1768); Kirchner, Lebengesch. Blutenpfl. Mitteleuropas, i. 78 (1904). Abies vulgaris, Poiret, in Lamarck, Diet. vi. 514 (1804). Abies Picea, Lindley, Penny Cycl. i. 29 (not Miller) (1833). Pinus Picea, Linnaeus, Sp. PI. 1001 (1753). Pinns Abies, Du Roi, Obs. Bot. 39 (1771). Pinus pectinata, Lamarck, Fl. Franc, ii. 202 (1778). Picea pectinata, Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iv. 2329 (1838). A tree attaining under favourable conditions about 150 feet in height and 20 feet or more in girth. Bark on young trees, smooth, greyish ; ultimately fissuring and becoming rough and scaly. Buds small, ovoid, non-resinous ; scales few, brownish, rounded at the apex. Young shoots grey, smooth, with a scattered short erect pubescence, which is retained in the second year. Leaves on lateral branches pectinately arranged in two lateral sets ; those below the longest and directed outwards and slightly forwards in the horizontal plane ; those above directed upwards and outwards, forming between the two sets a shallow V-shaped depression. Leaves about i inch long, -fa inch broad, linear, flattened, narrowed at the base, tapering slightly to the rounded, bifid apex ; upper surface dark green, shining, with a continuous median groove and without stomata ; lower surface with two white bands of stomata, each of seven to eight lines ; resin-canals marginal. On leading shoots the leaves are radially arranged, and differ considerably from those on lateral branches ; they are thicker, with median resin-canals, acute and not bifid at the apex, and often show lines of stomata on their upper surface towards the tip. Leaves on cone-bearing branches are nearly all directed upwards, very sharp- pointed, and almost tetragonal in section. Trees, standing in an isolated position, usually begin to flower at about thirty years old ; when crowded in dense forests, much later, usually not before sixty years old. Staminate flowers, surrounded at the base by numerous imbricated scales, cylindrical, about i inch long, with greenish - yellow stamens. Female cones, appearing in August of the previous year as large rounded buds, enclosed in brown scales, and situated just behind the apex of the shoot ; in spring, when developed, erect, cone-shaped, about i inch long, surrounded at the base by fringed scales ; bracts numerous, imbricated, denticulate, ending in long, acuminate points, and completely concealing the much smaller ovate, rounded ovuliferous scales. 1 Abies alba, the oldest name under the correct genus, was never in use until lately, when it has been resuscitated by Sargent and some continental botanists. This is one of the cases where adhesion to strict priority would lead to great con fusion ; and hence we have adopted the name Abies pectinata, by which the tree is generally known. Abies 72,1 Cones on short stout stalks, cylindrical, slightly narrowed at both ends, obtuse at the apex, about 6 inches long, 2 inches in diameter, greenish when growing, dull brown when mature, with the points of the bracts exserted and reflexed. Scales tomentose externally, fan - shaped, about i inch broad and long ; upper margin slightly uneven ; lateral margins denticulate, each usually with a sinus, below the slight wings on the outer side of the scale ; claw clavate. Bract with an oblong claw, extending up three-quarters the height of the scale, and expanding above into a lozenge-shaped denticulate lamina, which ends in a sharp long triangular mucro. Seed with wing about an inch long ; wing about twice as long as the body of the seed. SEEDLING Seed sown in spring germinates in three or four weeks. The cotyledons, usually five in number, are at first enveloped, as with a cap, by the albumen of the seed ; but speedily casting this off, they spread radially in a whorl at the summit of the short caulicle, and remain green on the plant for several years ; about an inch in length, linear, obtuse at the apex, flat beneath, and slightly ridged on the upper surface, which shows two whitish bands of stomata. In the first year only a single whorl of true leaves, arising immediately above the cotyledons and alternating with them, is produced. Primary leaves short, acute, or obtuse, but not emarginate at the apex, and with the stomatic bands on the lower surface. A terminal bud closes the first season's growth, the plant scarcely attaining two inches high. In the second year ordinary leaves, arranged spirally on the stem, are produced. The growth of the plant in the first two or three years is mainly concentrated in the root, which descends deep into the soil, the increase in height of the stem above ground being trifling. The stem branches in the third or fourth year, and produces annually for some years one or two lateral branches, making no great growth in height, reaching in the ninth year an average of two feet. About the tenth year normal verticillate branching begins ; and from this onwards the plant makes rapid growth. VARIETIES Dr. Klein gives in Vegetationsbilder illustrations of some remarkable forms1 which the silver fir assumes at high elevations in Central Europe, and which he calls " Wettertanne " or " Schirmtanne." These trees have lost their main leader through lightning, wind, or otherwise, and have developed immense side branches which spread and then ascend, sometimes forming a candelabra-like shape. The finest of this type known to him is at St. Cerques in Switzerland, and measures at breast height no less than 7.40 metres in girth, about the same as the largest of the Roseneath2 trees. Other varieties, distinguished by their peculiar habit, occur in the wild state. l These forms are also described by Dr. Christ in Garden and Forest, ix. 273 (1896). 3 One of the trees at Roseneath, Dumbartonshire, has a similar growth of erect branches, like leaders from some of the horizontal liinbs. This is figured, from a photograph by Vernon Heath, in Card. Chron. xxii. 8, fig. I (1884). At Powers- court there is also a large tree, 13 feet 3 inches in girth, with branches prostrate on the ground and sending up several upright stems. IV c 72,2, The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland Var. pendula? with weeping branches, has been found in the Vosges and in East Friesland. Var. virgata? found in Alsace and Bohemia, has long pendulous branches, only giving off branchlets near their apices, and densely covered with leaves. Var. pyramidalis? This form, which in habit resembles the cypress or a Lombardy poplar, was found growing wild in the department of Isère in France. A very fine example, about 35 feet high in 1904, is growing in the arboretum of Segrez. Var. columnaris? very slender in habit, with numerous short branches, all of equal length, and with leaves shorter and broader than in the type. Var. tortiiosa, a dwarf form, with twisted branches, and bent, irregularly-arranged leaves. Var. brevifolia, another dwarf form, distinguished by its short broad leaves. Remarkable variations in the cones have also been observed. A tree, discovered by Purkyne5 in Bohemia, bore cones, umbonate at the apex, and with short and non- reflexed bracts. Beissner6 mentions a tree, growing in the park at Worlitz near Dessau, which produced cones a foot in length. DISTRIBUTION The common silver fir is a native of the mountainous regions of central and southern Europe. The northern limit of its area of distribution begins in the western Pyrenees about lat. 43° in the neighbourhood of Roncesvalles in Navarre ; and crossing the chain it extends along its northern slope as far as St. Béat ; from here it bends northwards to the mountains of Auvergne, whence it is continued in a north-easterly direction through Burgundy and French Lorraine, crossing the eastern slope of the Vosges about the latitude of Strasburg. From here it curves for some distance westward, and reaching Luxemburg, is continued through Trier and Bonn to southern Westphalia. Across the rest of Germany, according to Drude, who gives a map of the distribution of the species, the northern limit extends as an irregular line about lat. 51°, which touches Hersfeld, Eisenach, the northern edge of the Thuringian forest, Glauchau, Rochlitz, Dresden, Bautzen, and Görlitz ; and ends in the southern point of the province of Posen. Around Spremberg to the north of the limit just traced, it is found wild in a small isolated territory. The eastern limit, beginning in Posen, extends through Poland along the River Wartha to Kolo, crosses to Warsaw, and descending through Galicia west of Lemberg, reaches the Carpathians in Bukowina ; and is continued along the mountains of Transylvania to Orsova on the Danube. The southern limit is not clearly known as regards the Balkan peninsula, as the silver fir, which occurs in the mountains of Roumelia, Macedonia, and Thrace, 1 Kottmeier found peculiar weeping silver firs in the Friedeberg forest, near Wittmund in East Friesland, in 1882. Cf. Wittmack's Gartemeitung, 1882, p. 406, and Conwentz, Seltene Waldbäume in Westfreussen, 161 (1895). 2 Caspary, in IlempeFs Oesterr. Forstzeitung, 1883, p. 43. 3 Carrière, Conif. 280. 4 Carrière, Rev. Hort. 1859, p. 39. 6 Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 118 (1887). 8 Nadelhohkunde, 433 (1891). Abies 7*3 supposed to be A. pectinata, is more probably a form of A. Apollinis. In Italy the common silver fir reaches its most southerly point on the Nebroden and Madonia Mountains of Sicily at lat. 38°. From here the limit follows the Apennines up through Italy, crosses into Corsica, and from there passes into Spain, where it extends from Monseny, near the Mediterranean coast in lat. 41° 25', parallel to the Pyrenees, through the mountains of Catalonia and northern Aragon to Navarre. In Spain the silver fir also occurs westwards on a few points of the northern littoral in the Basque provinces and Asturias. Within the extensive territory just delimited, the silver fir is very irregularly distributed, being totally absent in many parts, as on the plains and lower mountains of southern Europe. In the eastern part of its area it occurs only as isolated trees or in small groups in the beech and spruce forests ; whereas, in the western part, as in France and in parts of Germany, it forms forests of great extent, either pure or in which it is the dominant species. In France the largest forests of the silver fir are in the Vosges and in the Jura. Important forests also occur in the eastern parts of the Pyrenees, the Cevennes, the mountains of Auvergne, and the Alps of Dauphiné. It is rare on the hills of Burgundy, and does not occur in the Ardennes. There are small woods of this species on some of the hills in Normandy, which are, however, supposed to be planted and not indigenous. The great forest of the Vosges1 is about 50 miles long by 5 to i o miles in width, and contains about 200,000 acres, situated mainly between I loo and 3300 feet elevation. This forest consists chiefly of silver fir, though, in some parts, there is a considerable mixture of beech, spruce, and common pine. The most productive woods are on siliceous soil, and only contain 10 per cent of beech and pine ; their mean annual production being about 100 cubic feet per acre, the volume of timber standing on each acre averaging 4500 cubic feet. In the Jura there are even richer and more homogeneous forests than in the Vosges, being according to Huffel the finest in Europe. Here the soil is limestone. One of these forests, which covers Mount La Joux, between 2100 and 3000 feet altitude, contains 10,600 acres, and consists of about 90 per cent silver fir and 10 per cent of spruce. The annual yield per acre is 170 cubic feet of timber. The total volume of standing timber, including only trees over 2 feet in girth, is 6000 cubic feet per acre. The net revenue is thirty-two shillings an acre. There are several other forests equally valuable in this region. One of the finest silver firs1 in France, a tree called "Le Président," is growing in the forest of La Joux. It is 163 feet high, with a clean stem of 93 feet, and a girth of 15 feet; and contains 1600 cubic feet of timber. In the forest2 of Gérardmer, in the Vosges, there are two fine trees. One, the Beau Sapin, has a height of 144 feet and a girth of 13 feet 8 inches ; it contains 777 cubic feet of timber, and is valued at ^16. The other, the Géant Sapin, has a height of 157 feet and a girth of 14 feet 5 inches ; it contains 1095 cubic feet of timber, and is valued at /"27. In the Pyrenees the silver fir occurs between 4500 and 6500 feet elevation, and trees 1 See Huffel, Economie Forestière, i, 349, 350, 353 (1904). 2 Cf. Trans. R. Scot. Arh. Soc. xviii. 131 (1905). 724 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland of great age, about 800 years old, are said1 to have existed there at the beginning of the 19th century. In Corsica the silver fir occurs in the great forests of Pinus Laricio, but is not abundant, as it only grows, as a rule, in scattered groups in the gullies, where the soil is deeper and richer than elsewhere ; and at Valdoniello I only saw a few trees, none of which were of large size. M. Rotges, of the Forest Service, informed me that it occurs in greatest quantity in the forest of Pietropiano, near Corte. In Italy the silver fir is unquestionably wild on the Apennines, and considerable forests exist at Vallombrosa and Camaldoli, which are now owned by the govern ment. That at Camaldoli is particularly fine, the total area covered by the silver fir being about 1600 acres. The trees are dense on the ground and very vigorous in growth ; and this is easily explained by the heavy rainfall, which, as measured at St Eremo, in the middle of the forest, at 3600 feet altitude, averages about 80 inches annually. I saw, when I visited Camaldoli, in December 1906, no trees of great size ; but one was cut down in 1884, and a log of it shown at the National Exhibition at Turin in that year, which measured 140 feet in height and 17 feet in girth. The silver fir also occurs in Sicily in small quantity, on the higher mountains, and specimens without cones, which I saw in the museum at Florence, are peculiar in the foliage, and form possibly a connecting link between A. pectinata and A. numidica. In Germany, towards the northern part of its area of distribution, the silver fir is met with growing wild on the plains, as in Saxony, Silesia, and Thuringia. Towards the south it is entirely a tree of the mountains, occupying a definite zone of altitude, which, in the Bavarian forest, lies between 950 and 400x3 feet. The largest forests, which are nearly pure, occur in the Black Forest and in Franconia ; those in Bavaria, Bohemia, Thuringia, and Saxony being smaller in extent. In Switzerland small forests occur at Zurich, Payerne, and on Mount Torat ; the silver fir ascending in the Swiss Alps to 530x3 feet altitude. (A. H.) As to the size2 which the silver fir attains in its native forests, many particulars are given by French and German foresters, some of which have been quoted above. None exceed, however, what I have seen in the virgin forests of Bosnia, where I measured near Han Semec, at an elevation of about 3000 feet, a fallen tree over 180 feet long, whose decayed top must have been at least 15 to 20 feet more. Loudon states that he saw, in the museum at Strasburg, a section of a tree of the estimated age of 360 years, cut in 1816 at Barr, in the Hochwald, which was 8 feet in diameter at the base and 150 feet high. The virgin forests of Silesia and Bohemia contain silver firs of immense size, of which very interesting particulars are given by Goppert,3 who states that, in Prince Schwarzenberg's forest of Krummau, there existed many silver firs of from 1 Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 116, note (1887). 2 Kerner, Nat. Hist. Plants, Eng. trans. i. 722, gives the " certified height " of Abies pectinata as 75 metres, or 250 feet ; but this is not confirmed hy other authorities. 3 H. R. Göppert, Skizzen zur Kenntnis! der Urwälder Schlesiens und Böhmens, 18 (1868). Abies 7*5 120 to 200 feet high, free from branches up to 80 to 120 feet, and as much as 6 to 8 feet in diameter. He quotes Hochstetter,1 who measured in the Greinerwald, near Unter-Waldau, at an elevation of 2563 feet, a silver fir blown down by a storm, which was 9^- feet in diameter at breast height and 200 feet long, and produced 30 klafter of firewood. The silver fir is planted outside the area of its natural distribution in most parts of France, in Belgium, and in western and northern Germany, but not beyond lat. 51° in eastern Prussia. It is occasionally planted in Norway, and at Christiana has attained 68 feet in length by 3^ feet in girth. At Thlebjergene, near Trondhjem, where, on the side of a hill, sloping down to the sea, with an easterly exposure, a fine plantation,2 mainly of spruce and Scots pine, was made in 1872 and subsequent years,—there are some splendid groups of silver fir, 30 to 40 feet in height, appar ently exceeding in rapidity of growth the native spruce beside it. It is met with in gardens in the Baltic provinces of Russia, as in Lithuania where there is a small wood near Grodno, and in Courland and Livonia ; here, however, it always remains a small tree, never bears cones, and is much injured by severe winters. One of the most remarkable plantations in Europe is the one made by the Hanoverian Oberförster, J. G. von Langen, in the Royal Park of Jaegersborg, near Copenhagen, about 1765. I visited this place in 1908, and measured some of the trees. I found that the largest now standing near the entrance at Klampenborg was 125 feet by 12 feet 10 inches. This tree is figured in a work8 kindly sent me by Skovrider H. Mundt. There are, however, many taller trees on the south side of the main drive, two of which I found to be 140 feet by 9 feet, and 140 feet by 8 feet in girth, respectively. I measured the girth of twenty trees out of sixty- two which are growing on an area of 100 by 30 paces, and believe them to average over 130 feet high, with an average girth of 7^ feet. In Lutken's work full details are given of the measurements of these trees taken in 1893, and confirmed in 1898 by Oppermann, who found 432 trees, averaging 38-9 metres in height and containing 1400 cubic metres per hectare; which is equal to 20,0x30 cubic feet per acre in the round, or 15,700 feet English quarter-girth measure. My own hasty estimate on the spot was about 12,000 feet English quarter-girth measure per acre. These wonderful silver firs grow on a deep, sandy loam, on level ground near the sea, and seem to have passed their prime. Some of their timber has been used as rafters in the Secretariat hall of the new Raadhus at Copenhagen. A.pectinata* was brought to the eastern United States early in the nineteenth century ; but it is not hardy even in the middle states. Witches' brooms and cankered swellings, due to the fungus AZcidium elatinum, De Bary, are common on the silver fir in the continental forests ; and are often seen in Ireland and the south-west of Scotland,5 though apparently rare in England, where they have been noticed in Norfolk6 and at Haslemere.7 1 Hochstetter, Aus dem BShmerwalde, Allg. Augsb. Zeit. 1855, N°- l82- Cf- Sendtner, Die Vegetations-Verhältnisse des Bayerischen Waldes (1860). 2 Seen by Henry in 1908. 3 Lütken, Den Langenske Forstordning, p. 286, fig. 5 (Copenhagen, 1899). 4 Sargent, Silva N. Amer. xii. 100, adnot. (1898). 6 Somerville, in Hartig, Diseases of Trees, Eng. trans. 179 (1894). 6 Trans. Norfolk and Notwich Naturalist? Soc. vii. p. 255. i Specimens at Kew. 72,6 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland The swellings which affect the trunk or branches are due to the irritation of the fungus mycelium, which is perennial and stimulates the wood and bark to abnormal growth. These swellings become fissured and are entered by the spores of other fungi, which rot the wood ; and the tree, if the stem is affected, is often broken off at the weakened spot by storms or falls of snow. The witches' brooms begin as young shoots, bearing small yellowish leaves, on the under surface of which two rows of œcidia are developed in August. These shed their spores at the end of that month and the leaves soon afterwards die and fall off. The affected shoots keep on growing, and develop into peculiar growths, set upright generally on the branches, and consisting of numerous twigs anastomosed together. The fungus passes one stage of its life on various species of Stellaria, Cerastium, and their allies, and Fischer1 recommends the extirpation of these plants from nurseries in which the silver fir is raised. The silver fir is very liable in its native forests to be attacked by the mistletoe. Modified roots, the so-called sinkers of the parasite, have been found in the wood enclosed in forty annual rings and as much as 4 inches long, showing that mistletoe may live on the tree for forty years. When the mistletoe dies the rootlets and sinkers survive for a time, but finally moulder and fall to pieces. The affected parts of the wood show numerous perforations, and exactly resemble the wood of a target that has been penetrated by shot or small bullets." The bark of the silver fir remains alive on the surface to an advanced age ; and, on this account, when branches, stems, or roots of adjoining trees get into contact, they often become grafted together. This is the explanation of the curious phenomenon of the vitality of the stumps of certain trees in forests. After the stem is cut down, these stumps continue to increase in size and produce a callosity, which eventually covers the stump in the form of a hemispherical cap. Such a stump procures its nourishment from an adjoining tree, with which its roots have become grafted.8 CULTIVATION The silver fir4 was introduced into England about the beginning of the seventeenth century ; but the exact date is uncertain. The earliest trees recorded are two mentioned by Evelyn,8 which were planted in 1603 by Serjeant Newdigate in Harefield Park in Middlesex. These had attained about 80 feet high in 1679, but from inquiries made by the late Dr. Masters, there is no doubt that they have long since been cut down. Though in its own country the silver fir is a tree of the mountains, yet it attains its greatest perfection in the south and west of England, Scotland, and 1 Abstract of Fischer's paper \n.Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc. xxvii. 272 (1902). 1 See Kerner, Nat. Hist. Plants, Eng. trans. i. 210, fig. 48 (1898). We have never seen or heard of mistletoe on the silver fir in this country. 3 gee Mathieu, Flore Forestière, 529 (1897). 4 Staves were found, in 1900, lining the ancient wells in the Roman city of Silchester, Hants; and the wood was identified by Marshall Ward with A. pectinata. The casks, from which the staves had been taken, were probably imported from the region of the Pyrenees, and had either contained wine or Samian ware. Cf. Clement Reid, in Archaeclogia, Ivii. 253. 256 (I9°!)- 6 Sylva, 106 (1679). Abies 72,7 Ireland, under conditions of soil and climate very unlike those of its native forests. Though it will endure the severest winter frosts without injury, yet unless under the cover of other trees, or in very sheltered situations, it is often injured by spring frost, on account of its tendency to grow early. As regards soil it is somewhat critical, for though Boutcher1 says that he has seen the largest and most flourishing silver firs on sour, heavy, obstinate clay, yet I have never myself seen fine trees on any but deep, moist, sandy soils, or on hillsides where the subsoil was deep and fertile. He also says it is vain to plant them in hot, dry, rocky situations, and this is my own experience on oolite formations, where I have never seen a large or well-developed silver fir. In the east and midland counties they usually become ragged at the top before attaining maturity, and in this country rarely attain a great age without suffering from drought and wind. Though foresters of continental experience recommend this tree for under- planting, on account of its ability to grow under dense shade, yet from an economical point of view it cannot be recommended here ; and I do not know of any place in England where the financial results of planting the silver fir are, or seem likely to be, such as would justify growing it on a large scale ; partly because of its very slow growth when young, and partly because its timber is not valued as it is in France and Germany. Mr. Crozier's experience2 is very noteworthy. The silver fir seeds itself very freely in some parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland,3 but the seedlings are so slow in growth and so delicate for the first few years, that few survive the risk of frost, rabbits, and smothering. Sir Charles Strickland tells me that in a wood of silver firs at Boynton, Yorkshire, which were mostly blown down in 1839, he remembers that a few years afterwards the growth of young seedlings was in places so dense that he could hardly force his way through them. Some of these self-sown trees are now 6 feet in girth and 60 to 70 feet high, but many are stunted from want of space. Their parents are rough and branchy, dying at the top, and 10 to 12 feet in girth. REMARKABLE TREES Though the silver fir will probably be in time surpassed in height and girth by some of the conifers of the Pacific coast of America, yet at present it has no rival in size among coniferous trees in Great Britain. Perhaps the tallest which I have seen in England is the magnificent tree (Plate 208) which grows in Gates Wood, at the top of Cowdray Park, Sussex, at an elevation of 500 to 600 feet, and now owing to its being deprived of the shelter of the surrounding trees, likely to be blown down 1 Boutcher, A Treatise on Forest Trees, 146 (1775). 2 Formerly one of our most reliable trees, but now hopelessly unreliable as a timber crop, owing to its susceptibility to attack by Chermes. Like the larch, our old trees are practically immune to attack, but the difficulty in getting up young stock—experienced throughout the greater part of the country—is likely to lead to its extinction altogether as an economic species. Has been much recommended by continental trained foresters—even of late years—for the purpose of underplanting in our Scotch woods, and some of those experiments I saw lately. The result is a hopeless failure in all of them.— (J. D. CROZIER.) 3 At Auchendrane, near Ayr, according to Mr. J. A. Campbell, there are several acres of self-sown seedlings ; and in County Wexford I have also seen great numbers. 72,8 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland by the first severe gale. I measured this tree in 1906 in company with Mr. Roberts, forester to the Earl of Egmont, as carefully as the nature of the ground would allow, and believe it to be still over 130 feet in height ; when I first saw it in 1903 it was taller. It is clear of branches to at least 90 feet and 10 feet 2 inches in girth. In the background some spruce which are even taller may be seen in our illustration. I am informed by Mr. F. H. Jervoise, of Herriard Park, Hants, that there was a silver fir there which probably exceeded this height before its top was broken off about sixteen years ago. A photograph, taken in 1851, shows the height to have been then at least double what it now is, namely 70 feet, and another tree standing not far off measures approximately 140 feet. In the Shrubbery at Knole Park, Kent, a very large silver fir is now about i IQ feet high, with a clean bole about 80 feet by 12 feet ; but its top is broken off, and it looks as if it might have been much taller. At Longleat there are a great number of very fine silver firs near the Gardens; and also in the valley at Shearwater, the largest of which I measured in 1903, and found to be about 130 feet by 16 feet 5 inches in girth.1 Mr. A. C. Forbes estimated the contents of this tree at 550 feet, and in the Trans. Eng. Art. Soc. v. 399, gives the measurements of a group of twenty-seven trees, 120 years old, growing on an area of ^ of an acre at the same place as follows :—Average height, 130 feet ; average girth at 5 feet, 9 feet ; average contents, 180 cubic feet. Total, 5000 cubic feet. I doubt whether any similar area of ground in England carries so much timber, except, perhaps, a group of chestnut and oak in Lord Clinton's park at Bicton. Silver fir requires unusually good soil to attain these dimensions. Plate 209 shows a part of this grove which stands at an elevation of about 500 feet on a greensand formation. There is a row of very fine silver firs by the road on Breakneck hill in Windsor Park, one of which I measured as 130 feet by 11 feet, and no doubt many as large, or nearly so, can be found in other parts of the south and west of England ; but, as a rule, when the tree attains about 100 to no feet its top ceases to grow and becomes ragged. Near the great cedar at Stratton Straw less (see Plate 133) there are some tall silver firs, one of which in 1907 was 131 feet by 9 feet 7 inches ; and Mr. Birkbeck informed me that another, believed to be the tallest tree in Norfolk, and measuring 135 feet, had been blown down in 1895 at tne same place. There are some very fine silver firs still standing at Eslington Park, Northumber land, which were planted about 1760, though Mr. Wightman, the gardener, informs me that the largest, which could be seen standing above all the other trees, was blown down in a gale in December 1894. It measured 122 feet by 21 feet at five feet from the ground, and at fifty feet from the ground was still 9 feet in girth. Almost equal to these are the trees in the Ladieswell Drive, near Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, which I saw in 1907 ; though not much exceeding 100 feet 1 Loudon states that the tallest silver fir known in England in his time was believed to be at Longleat, and measured 138 feet high by 17 feet in girth ; but this tree cannot now be identified. Abies 729 in height, they measure from 14 feet to 16 feet in girth, the largest being estimated by Mr. A. T. Gillanders, forester to the Duke of Northumberland, to contain about 600 cubic feet each. At Rydal Park, Cumberland, Mr. W. F. Rawnsley informs me that a silver fir was felled which contained 420 cubic feet, and doubtless there are others in the north-west of England as large.1 In Wales, however, I have seen none remarkable for size, though there are many places which seem as suitable as those I have mentioned. In Scotland the silver fir attains its maximum of size in the south-west, and in a district where the climate is most unlike that of central Europe ; being much warmer in winter, cooler in summer, and with a rainfall of 60 to 80 inches and even more in exceptional years. On the Duke of Argyll's property at Roseneath are the champion silver firs of Great Britain, both as regards age and girth. Strutt figures them in Suva Scotica (plate 6), and states that the largest was then about 90 feet by 17 feet 5 inches. Loudon, twenty years later, gave the height as 124 feet, the age as 138 years, and the diameter of the trunk as 6 feet ; but this height is almost certainly an error, as when I visited Roseneath in September 1906, a careful measurement made the largest about no feet by 22 feet 7 inches, and the other, which stands close by it, 105 feet by 22 feet i inch.2 Plate 210, from a negative for which I have to thank Mr. Renwick, is the best I have been able to obtain of these noble trees, which grow close to sea-level in deep sandy soil. The Duke of Argyll believes them to have been planted about 1620 or 1630. Near Inveraray Castle, on the lower slopes of Dun-y-Cuagh, Mr. D. Campbell, the Duke's forester, showed me some splendid silver firs, over 120 feet high and 15 feet in girth, and assured me that in his younger days he had helped to measure some which were much larger; one he believed to have been 24 feet in girth, containing over 800 feet of timber. On the Dalmally road, a little above the stables at Inveraray, are the tallest trees of the species that I have seen in Scotland ; one measures 135 feet, or perhaps as much as 140 feet, by 16^ feet; another about 135 feet by 14 feet 3 inches ; and there may be even taller ones here which I could not measure. These splendid trees were, as the Duke of Argyll informs me, probably planted by Duke Archibald in 1750, but their timber is so coarse that it is of little value, and is principally used by Glasgow shipbuilders for keel blocks. Some of the most remarkable silver firs which I have seen in any country are at Ardkinglas, now the property of Sir Andrew Noble, near the head of Loch Fyne. They are described by J. Wilkie, and well illustrated in the Trans. Scot. Arb. Soc. ix. 174, and show a tendency, which I cannot explain, to throw out immense branches, which, after growing horizontally 10 to 15 feet from the main trunk, turn up and form an erect secondary stem. The largest of these (op. cit. plate 11), accord ing to Wilkie's careful measurement in 1881, was 114 feet high by 18 feet in girth at 1 Sir Richard Graham of Netherby Hall, Cumberland, showed me a very remarkable tree in a wood called Hog Knowe, which has large spreading branches, 80 paces in circumference, and measures 98 feet by 14^ feet. Mr. Watt of Carlisle has been good enough to send me a photograph of this tree, taken by his sister. " See Card. Chron. xxii. 8, fig. I (1884), and xxvii. 166, fig. 39 (1887), where good illustrations of these trees are given. IV D 73° The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 2\ feet. I made it in 1905 about 21 feet at the same height and 14 yards round the roots. Wilkie computed that the main stem contained 557 cubic feet and the branches 692 cubic feet, including bark, which exceeds the largest tree of the species recorded in this country. I certainly have never seen anything surpassing it in bulk, even in the virgin forests of Bosnia, though I have measured a fallen silver fir there which was at least 200 feet high. Another of these trees figured on plate 12 of the same volume, was estimated at 437 feet in the stem, and 449 feet in the ten principal limbs. At the same place is a very fine tree which Mrs. Henry Callender, who showed it to me, called " The Three Sisters," 115 feet high according to Wilkie,—I made it, twenty-four years later, 120 feet,—with a bole only 8 feet long, where it divides into three tall stems nearly equal in height and measuring just above where they separate, 8 feet 4 inches, 8 feet 5^ inches, and 8 feet 7 inches respectively. The Union trees,1 in the avenue at Auchendrane, Ayrshire, planted in 1707, are six in number, the largest being, in 1902, 97 feet high and 16 feet i inch in girth. Another tree in the flower garden here, planted at the same time, was 110 feet by 16 feet in 1902. In the island of Bute, James Kay describes, in Trans. Scot. Arb. Soc. ix. p. 75, some fine silver firs which grew in a clump north-east of the circle walk in the woods of Mountstuart, the seat of the Marquess of Bute. They were of immense height (120 feet), and could be seen for miles standing out like an island among this forest of sylvan beauty. There were nineteen silver firs, five spruce, one Scots pine, and two birches, all standing on a space of 60 yards square, where they were healthy and not overcrowded. They were very uniform in size, and ran from 10 to 12 feet in girth, ten being straight to the top and nine forked at 30 feet to 60 feet up.2 In other parts of Scotland the silver fir usually attains smaller dimensions, the largest that I have seen being on the banks of the Tay, near Dunkeld, and at Dupplin Castle, where I measured a tree over 100 feet high by 17^ feet in girth. But Mr. W. J. Bean, in Kew Bulletin, 1906, p. 266, mentions an immense tree, which was blown down on November 17, 1893, near Drummond Castle, when 210 years old. The stump of this tree was 6^ feet in diameter, and the cubic contents are said to have been 1010 cubic feet At Dawyck, near Peebles, in a cold situation at about 500 feet above the sea, Mr. F. R. S. Balfour showed me some large silver firs which far surpass the larches growing near them, which are believed to have been planted about 1730. The largest of the firs is 112 feet by 15^ feet. In most parts of Ireland the silver fir is a thriving tree wherever planted, and seems to be well suited to the climate. It was probably introduced early in the eighteenth century, as, according to Hayes, there were trees 100 feet high and 12 feet in girth in 1794 at Mount Usher, in Co. Wicklow. The largest silver fir in Ireland that we know of is at Tullymore Park, Co. Down, the seat of the Earl of Roden, growing in a sheltered valley below the house. Col. the Hon. R. Jocelyn, who showed me 1 Cf. Renwick, in Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasgow, vii. 265 (1905). 2 Mr. Kay informs me that many of the trees described by him thirty years ago have since been blown down, and I could not identify these silver firs when I visited Bute recently. Abies 731 this tree in 1908, informed me that it was marked on a plan about 200 years old, and though still vigorous in appearance, it seems to be hollow for some way up. It measures from 115 to 120 feet high, with a girth of 18 feet 10 inches ; and at about 20 feet from the ground throws out four large branches, which become erect, and form a tree of the candelabra type. (Plate 211.) At Carton, the seat of the Duke of Leinster, a tree was 16 feet i inch in girth in 1904, but the top had been blown off by the great gale of 1903. The finest silver firs in Ireland are probably those growing at Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny, where the biggest tree was in 1904 over 120 feet high by 15 feet 4 inches in girth. There are also here four trees standing so close together that they can be encircled by a tape of 30 feet ; one of these is 133 feet high by 10 feet 10 inches in girth. At Avondale, Co. Wicklow, Mr. A. C. Forbes measured a tree in 1908, 125 feet in height and 15 feet 4 inches in girth. At Tykillen, Co. Wexford, the silver fir grows well and seeds itself freely, but does not attain anything like the dimensions above noted. There are fine trees at Castlemartyr, Co. Cork, one of which measures 114 feet by 14 feet 8 inches. TIMBER Though on the Continent the wood of the silver fir is in some districts, and for purposes where strength combined with lightness is required,1 valued more highly than that of the spruce or pine, yet in England it is little appreciated, because it seldom comes to market in any quantity, and the trees are rarely clean enough to make good boards. But I am assured by Dr. Watney that, when slowly and closely grown, it is distinctly superior in quality to that of the spruce, and that he uses it in preference on his own property for estate building ; and Mr. H. E. Asprey, agent to the Earl of Portsmouth at Eggesford, Devonshire, where this tree grows very well, tells me that he finds the timber quite equal to that of spruce for all estate purposes. The Marquess of Bath informs me that a lot of 22 trees, averaging 140 feet each, were sold privately at 5^d. per foot, and used at Trowbridge for making tin-plate boxes ; but most of his silver fir timber goes to the Radstock coal pits, where it is used underground. Laslett says2 that " the pinkish white and scarcely resinous wood works up well, with a bright silky lustre, and is of excellent quality for carpentry and ship-work. It is light and stiff, and like spruce takes glue well. Nevertheless it is as yet far less in request than the latter, though it is employed in the making of paper pulp, as well as for boards, rafters, etc."8 So little is it known, however, to the English timber merchant that the author of English Timber does not even mention it, and I am not aware that it is imported to England as an article of commerce. Strasburg turpentine, which was formerly extracted from the resinous glands found on its bark and largely used for the preparation of clear varnishes and at one time used as medicine, is now apparently superseded by other resins, though, according to Flückiger and Hanbury,4 it was still collected to a small extent in the Vosges in 1873. (H. J. E.) 1 Cf. Mouillefert, Essences Forestières, 338(1903). 3 Timber and Timber Trees, 343 (1896). 3 Christ, Flore de la Suisse, 255 (1907), says that its white wood is delicate and not so much in request as the more resinous wood of the spruce. 4 Pharmacographia, 615 (1879). 732 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland ABIES PINSAPO, SPANISH FIR Alles Pinsapo, Boissier, Biblioth. Univ. Genève, xiii. 167 (1838), and Voyage Espagne, ii. 584, tt. 167-169 (1845); Masters, Gard. Chron. xxiv. 468, f. 99 (1885), xxvi. 8, f. i (1886), and iii. 140, f. 22 (1888); Kent, Veitch's Man. Coniferœ, 534 (1900). finus Pinsapo, Antoine, Conif. 65, t. 26, f. 2 (1842-1847). Picea Pinsapo, Loudon, Etuycl. Trees, 1041 (1842). A tree attaining about 100 feet in height and 15 feet in girth. Bark smooth in young trees, becoming rugged and fissured on old trunks. Buds ovoid, obtuse at the apex, resinous. Young shoots glabrous, brownish, with slightly raised pulvini. Leaves on lateral branchlets radially arranged, linear, flattened, but thick, rigid, short, £ to f- inch long by about ^ inch wide, gradually narrowing in the upper third to the acute apex ; upper surface convex without a median furrow and with eight to fourteen lines of stomata ; lower surface with two bands of stomata, each of six or seven lines ; resin-canals usually median.1 In young plants the leaves are longer and end in sharp cartilaginous points. On cone-bearing branches the leaves are short and thick, lozenge-shaped in section, with twenty or more lines of stomata on the upper surface, and two bands of stomata of about ten lines each on the lower surface, which has a prominent keeled midrib. Staminate flowers crimson, cylindrical, J inch long, surrounded at the base by two series of broadly ovate obtuse scales. Cones sessile or subsessile, brownish when mature, pubescent, cylindrical, tapering to an obtuse apex ; 4 to 5 inches long by i^ to if inches in diameter. Scales : lamina three-sided, i inch wide by f inch long, upper margin almost entire, lateral margins nearly straight, laciniate ; claw short, obcuneate. Bract minute, situated at the base of the scale, ovate, orbicular or rectangular, denticulate, emarginate with a short mucro. Seed with wing i£ inch long ; wing two to three times as long as the body of the seed. In cultivated specimens the cones and scales are usually considerably smaller than in wild trees. Cotyledonsz six, convex and stomatiferous on the upper surface, flattish and green on the lower surface. HYBRIDS A series of hybrids have been obtained between A. Pinsapo and two other species, A. cephalonica and A. Nordmanniana, of which a full account is given by Dr. Masters in his valuable paper on hybrid conifers.3 i. Abies Vilmorini, Masters.4 This is a tree growing at Verrières near Paris, which has the following history. In 1867, M. de Vilmorin placed some pollen of A. cephalonica on the female flowers of a tree of A. Pinsapo. A single fertile seed was produced, which was sown in the following year ; germination ensued and the 1 The resin-canals in this species are variable in position. Cf. Guinier and Maire, in Bull. Soc. Bot. France, Iv. 190 (1908). 2 Masters, in litt. * Jcurn. Key. Hort. Soc. xxvi. 99 seq. (1901). 4 Ibid. 109. Abies 733 seedling was planted out in 1868. M. Phillipe L. de Vilmorin1 states that the tree was in 1905, 50 feet high by 5 feet in girth; and has three main stems, one of which, however, was broken by a storm two years ago. In its habit and foliage it resembles A. Pinsapo more than the other parent. The leaves, however, are longer and less rigid than in A. Pinsapo, and bear stomata only on their lower surface ; moreover their radial arrangement on the branchlets is imperfect. The cones, which are produced in abundance and contain fertile seeds, resemble those of A. cephalomca, being fusiform in shape ; they have longer bracts than in A. Pinsapo, in some years exserted, in other years shorter and concealed between the scales. Seedlings raised from this tree, now four years old, have acuminate sharp leaves like those of A. cephalonica. 2. Abies insignis, Carrière, Rev. Hort. 1890, p. 230. This hybrid was obtained or 1849 in the nursery of M. Renault at Bulgnéville in the Vosges. A in I branch of A. Pinsapo was grafted on a stock of the common silver fir (A. pectinata) ; and after some years the grafted plant produced cones. Seeds from these were sown ; and of the seedlings raised one-half were like A. Pinsapo, the remainder being intermediate in character, it was supposed, between A. Pinsapo and A. pectinata ; and the variation was considered to be the result of graft hybridisation. However, at no great distance there was growing a tree of A. Nordmanniana ; and it is more probable that the hybrid character of the seedlings was the result of a cross from A. Pinsapo fertilised by the pollen of A. Nordmanniana. A complete account of these seedlings is given by M. Bailly.2 3. Abies Nordmanniana speciosa, Hort.2 This hybrid was raised in 1871-1872 by M. Croux in his nurseries near Sceaux, the cross being effected by placing pollen from A. Pinsapo on female flowers of A. Nordmanniana. A full account of this hybrid is given by M. Bailly.2 4. Mosers hybrids. Four different forms, all raised from A. Pinsapo, fertilised by the pollen of A. Nordmanniana, which were obtained in 1878 by M. Moser at Versailles. Full details are given in Dr. Master's paper, to which we refer our readers. DISTRIBUTION A. Pinsapo has a restricted distribution, being confined to the Serrania de Ronda, a name given to the mountainous region around Ronda in the south of Spain. The late Lord Lilford informed Bunbury3 in 1870 that he had seen it growing on the Sierra d'Estrella in Portugal ; but we have not been able to confirm the statement. There are three main forests of this species, none of considerable extent, occurring in localities at considerable distances apart. I visited these forests in December 1906, and explain the rare occurrence of the tree as due to the fact, that in the dry climate of the south of Spain, it can only exist on the northern slopes of mountain > ffortus Vilmorinianus, 69, plate xii. (1906). See also Card. Chron. 1878, p. 438; Rev. Hort. 1889, p. 115, and 1902, p. 162, fig. 66. Rev. Hort. 1890, pp. 230, 231. 8 Arboretum Notes, 147 (1889). 734 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland chains running due east and west ; and these are seldom met with. In such situations the soil is never exposed to the direct rays of the noonday sun, and preserves in consequence a great deal of moisture. The tree never grows even on north-west or north-east slopes, and is strictly limited to aspects looking due north. The most important forest is in the Sierra de la Nieve, a few miles to the east of Ronda. Here the tree extends for several miles in scattered groves on the north slope of the range, growing on dolomitic limestone soil, usually in gullies or under the shade of the cliffs. It occurs mainly at elevations of 4000 to 5900 feet, though it occasionally descends to 3600 feet. In shaded situations and where the soil is deep, there are dense groves of thriving trees, without any admixture of other species ; but at the lower elevations, where there is more sun, the trees are scattered and mixed with oak and juniper. In exposed situations, at high elevations, the trees are windswept, stunted, and more or less broken. Seedlings are numerous in many places. The largest trees, seen by me, were a group, on the road across the mountain from Ronda to Tolox, at a spot called Puerto, de las animas. One of these (Plate 212) was 106 feet in height and 13 feet 8 inches in girth ; and another with a double stem, not so tall, girthed 16 feet 3 inches. This group is overhung by a precipice, and is at 4700 feet altitude. The stump of a tree, which had been cut down, showed 240 annual rings and was 32 inches in diameter. The second forest, and by far the most picturesque, lies to the west of Ronda, on the northern slope of the precipitous peak, Cerro S. Cristoval or Sierra del Pinar, close to the mediaeval town of Grazalema. The fir grows here on a talus, composed of sharp angular white limestone stones ; and the contrast between the dense mass of green foliage of the tree and the pure white ground from which it springs, is remarkably beautiful. The stones and pebbles are loosely aggregated ; and beneath the surface they are mixed with a mass of black mould, in which the roots of the tree freely spread. The fir extends along the precipitous side of the mountain for about two miles, forming a band of continuous forest, which reaches nearly to the summit of the peak, attaining about 5800 feet altitude, and descending generally to 4000 feet, reaching in one gully to 3600 feet. Seedlings are numerous. There is no undergrowth, except an occasional daphne ; but climbers like ivy and clematis are common. None of the trees are so tall as those in the Sierra de la Nieve; but many have gigantic short trunks, in one case girthing 25 feet, and are extremely old. In this forest, trees with glaucous foliage, not seen elsewhere, are not at all uncommon. The third wood of A. Pinsapo occurs on the Sierra de Bermeja, which overhangs the town of Estepona and the Mediterranean coast. This wood, which covers only a small area, is most accessible from Gaucin, a station on the railway between Gibraltar and Ronda. Here the soil is disintegrated serpentine rock, and the tree grows on the northern slope, between 4100 and 4900 feet, though stunted specimens occur up to 5400 feet. The fir is pure on the precipitous upper part of the mountain ; but lower down is mixed with Pinus Pinaster. The largest tree, which I measured, was 90 feet high by 13 feet 5 inches in girth. Abies 735 Isolated groups of a few trees, the remains of former forests, are reported to be growing on the Sierra de Alcaparain, near Carratraca, north-east of Ronda, and at Zahara and U brique, not far from Grazalema. Mr. Mosley of Gibraltar, who gave me valuable help and information, saw A. Pinsapo also growing on the Sierra Bianca de Ojen near Marbella. HISTORY AND CULTIVATION This species was discovered by Edmond Boissier in 1837. He sent about half-a-dozen seeds to M. de Vilmorin in the same year, and from one of these was raised the very fine tree, which is now growing at Verrières1 near Paris, and which is certainly the oldest cultivated specimen. This tree was in 1905, 70 feet high by 7 feet 3 inches in girth. Abies Pinsapo was introduced into England in 1839 by Captain Widdrington,2 who was the first to obtain information about the existence of a new species of Abies in Spain, though he was anticipated in its discovery by Boissier. (A. H.) In cultivation this has proved to be, all over the southern, midland, and eastern counties, one of the most ornamental of its genus, and is perfectly hardy on dry soils throughout Britain, ripening seed at least as far north as Yorkshire. It is one of the few silver firs that seems to require lime to bring it to perfection, and though it will grow fairly well on sandy soils, it will not thrive without perfect drainage, or on heavy clay. It seems to have a great tendency to divide into several leaders and often forms a bushy rather than a clean trunk, unless carefully pruned. It is not often injured by spring frost, and, though not likely to have any economic value, is a tree that should be planted in all pleasure grounds on well-drained soil, and in a sunny situation. The seedlings which I have raised grow at least as fast as those of A. pectinata, and are hardier when young, but require five or six years' nursery cultivation before they are fit to plant out. The wood is soft and knotty like that of most of the silver firs when grown singly in cultivation. REMARKABLE TREES Though specimens of this tree of from 50 to 60 feet high are found in many places all over England, we have not measured any which are specially remarkable. The largest recorded at the Conifer Conference in 1891 was a tree reported to be 62 feet high by 9 feet in girth, at Pampisford in Cambridgeshire ; but these measurements were erroneous, as it now is only 56 feet high by 7 feet 3 inches in girth. Here there is a remarkable dwarf form8 of this species, which is only a foot in height, with branches prostrate on the ground for 6 or 7 feet. The largest tree we know of is growing in a sheltered position in moist soil, at Coed Coch, near Abergele in North Wales, the residence of the Hon. Mrs. Brodrick. 1 Hortus Vilmorinianus, 69, pi. 7 (1906). 3 This is var. HammoncK, Veitch, Conifers, ed. i. p. 105. a Sketches in Spain, ii. 239. 73 6 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland The gardener, Mr. Hunter, informs us that it is 82 feet high by 10 feet 2 inches in girth ; but has never coned. There is a fine tree at Oakly Park, Ludlow, measuring 70 feet by 5 feet 8 inches in 1908. At Hardwicke, Bury St. Edmunds, Sir Hugh Beevor measured a tree in 1904, which was 63 feet high and 8 feet 11 inches in girth. At Fornham Park, also in Suffolk, he found a tree, which was planted in 1866, 50 feet by 6 feet 7 inches ; and says that its growth kept pace with that of an Atlantic Cedar close by. Col. Thynne has taken a photograph of a narrow, pyramidal, symmetrical tree at Longleat, which was 65 feet high by 7 feet 9 inches in 1906 (Plate 213). At Dogmersfield Park, Hants, the seat of Sir H. Mildmay, I measured a well-shaped tree, 65 feet high by 6 feet 10 inches. There are several good trees at Lilford Park, Oundle, growing on oolitic lime stone ; but Lord Lilford informed Henry that these were not raised from seed brought home by his father, and could give no confirmation of Bunbury's statement that the latter found the tree growing wild in Portugal. At Essendon Place, Hertford, a slender tree was 68 feet high by 5 feet i inch in 1907. At Merton Hall, near Thetford, Norfolk, there is a tall tree, 75 feet by 5 feet IQ inches, the stem being bare of branches for 30 feet. At Highnam, Gloucestershire, Major Gambier Parry reports a fine specimen, growing in the pinetum, which measured 60 feet by 6 feet 8 inches in 1906. At the Rookery, Down, Kent, the gardener, Mr. E. S. Wiles, reported in 1906 a fine specimen, 70 feet by 9 feet, which is growing on stiff yellow loam, intermingled with flint and clay, resting on chalk. In Wales the best that I have seen is a tree at Bodorgan, Anglesey, the seat of Sir G. E. Meyrick, which in 1906 was about 70 feet high, and had some large witches' brooms growing on it. In Scotland, we have seen none of more than average size, a tree at Scone being about the best, and, generally speaking, the climate seems too cold for this tree. Sir Archibald Buchan-Hepburn, however, reports one at Smeaton-Hepburn, East Lothian, which was 60 feet by 7 feet 9 inches in 1908. In Ireland, there is a tree at Curraghmore, Co. Waterford, which the gardener, Mr. D. Crombie, reported in 1905 to be 65 feet high by 8 feet in girth. At Carton, the seat of the Duke of Leinster, there is a good tree, 54 feet high by 8 feet in girth in 1903. At Coollattin, Wicklow, another was 55 feet by 4 feet IQ inches in 1906. Prof. Hansen states1 that fine trees of 50 feet high or more may be seen in several Danish gardens, where it has produced cones ; and that the tree exists in the south of Sweden and Norway. In the eastern United States it2 never really flourishes, although it is possible to keep it alive for many years in favourable situations, even as far north as eastern Massachusetts. (H. J. E.) 1 /. X. Hort. Soc. xiv. 476 (1892). 2 Sargent, Suva N. Amer. xii. 100, adnot. (1898). Abies 737 ABIES NUMIDICA, ALGERIAN FIR Abies numtdica, De Lannoy, ex Carrière, Rev. Hort. 1866, pp. 106, 203 ; Van Houtte, Flore des Serres, xvii. 9, t. 1717 (1867); Masters, Gard. Chron. iii. 140 (in part and excluding figures) (1888); Trabut, Rev. Gen. Bot. i. 405, ff. 17, 18 (1889); Kent, Veitch's Man. Coniferœ, 529 (1900). Abies Pinsapo, Boissier, var. baborensis, Cosson, Bull. Soc. Bot. France, viii. 607 (1861). Abies baborensis, Letourneux, Cat. Arb. et Arbust. d'Algérie (1888). Pimis Pinsapo, Parlatore, DC. Prod. xvi. 2, p. 423 (in part) (1868). Picea numidica, Gordon, Pinet. 220 (1875). A tree attaining 70 feet in height and 8 feet in girth. Bark grey, smooth in young trees, becoming scaly and fissured on old trunks. Buds large, ovoid, acute at the apex, non-resinous ; scales ovate, acute, with white scarious margins, usually free at the apex. Young shoots brown, shining, glabrous, with slightly raised pulvini but without grooves. Leaves on lateral branches pectinate below, the two lateral sets directed outwards in the horizontal plane ; those above shorter, crowded, directed upwards, and either, as on weak shoots, forming a narrow V-shaped pectinate arrangement, or, on strong shoots, with the median leaves directed backwards (not seen in any other species) and covering the upper side of the branchlet. Leaves short, ^ to f inch long, -fa inch broad, linear, flattened, gradually tapering to the base, broadest above the middle or uniform in width in the upper three-fourths, rounded at the apex, which is sometimes entire but usually slightly bifid ; upper surface dark green, shining, with the median groove often faint and rarely continued to the apex, in many leaves with four to six broken lines of stomata in the middle line near the apex ; under surface with two white bands of stomata, each of about eight to nine lines ; resin-canals marginal. Leaves on cone-bearing branches all more or less upturned, those of the middle ranks also directed slightly backwards, short, rigid, rounded and entire at the apex. Cones on short stout stalks, brownish, cylindrical with an obtuse apex and tapering base, about 5 inches long by \\ inch in diameter, with the bracts entirely concealed. Scales ; lamina fan-shaped, \\ inch wide, f inch long, upper margin almost entire, lateral margins denticulate and either straight or with a wing on each side above ; claw short, obcuneate. Bracts, scarcely reaching half the height of the scales, with a broad oblong claw and an expanded ovate denticulate lamina, which is acuminate or cuspidate at the mucronate apex. Seed with wing about an inch long ; wing about i^ times as long as the body of seed. Cones of cultivated trees have smaller scales with more developed lateral wings ; and shorter bracts, scarcely reaching % the height of the scale. The seedlings of this species have been fully described by Fliehe.1 In Bull. Soc. Forest. Franche-Conte et Belfort, 1903, p. 168. IV E 738 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland IDENTIFICATION The short broad leaves, which have usually four to six broken lines of stomata on their upper surface near the apex in the middle line, are a good mark of this species. On strong shoots the backward direction of the median leaves, which densely cover the upper side of the branchlet, is also very characteristic. DISTRIBUTION Abies numidica is very restricted in its distribution, being, so far as is known, confined to a small area towards the summit of the northern slope of Mount Babor, in the Kabylie range in Algeria. 11 grows between 5000 and 6600 feet altitude in a climate where snow lies upon the ground from December to April. In January, 1907, I visited Kerrata, at the head of the famous gorge of Chaba-el-Akra ; and found that the ascent of the mountain, only a few miles distant, was impracticable. M. Bernard, Inspector of Forests at Bougie, who has charge of the forest of Mt. Babor, informed me that the northern slope contains an area of 4000 acres, and is clothed with a dense forest, composed mainly of cedar and Quercus Mirbeckii in the upper zone between 4700 and 6600 feet, and of Q. Mirbeckii, Q. castanecefolia, and Acer obtusatum, in the lower zone below 4700 feet. The total number of trees of Abies numidica scarcely exceeds 3000 ; and they only grow towards the summit, where they occur scattered amongst the cedars and oaks. None of the trees are more than 70 feet high, and the largest is only 8 feet in girth. The small size is due to their exposed position, and possibly to the destruction of larger trees by the natives in former times. Seedlings are rare ; and according to M. Bernard, this is accounted for by the poor germinating quality of the seed, as only 4 to 15 per cent of it produced plants with him. The soil on which the tree grows is limestone, its surface being composed of stones and pebbles, underneath which there is a considerable mixture of mould.1 Abies marocana, Trabut,2 discovered in January 1906 by M. Joly, in the mountains south of Tetuan, in Morocco, is intermediate in the characters of the foliage between A. numidica and A. Pinsapo. M. Trabut showed me a branchlet, when I was in Algiers in 1907 ; but in the absence of cones, it is impossible to decide whether it deserves to rank as a new species. Seeds of this should be readily procurable ; and the attention of travellers is directed to the possibility of introducing a new silver fir. (A. H.) HISTORY AND CULTIVATION The Algerian fir was discovered in 1861 by Captain de Guibert. The first seeds were sent to France in 1862 by M. Davout, a forest officer; and another supply and six young plants were forwarded in 1864 by M- de Lannoy. M. Maurice de Vilmorin, in Arbres Forestiers Etrangers, 33 (1900) gives an account of Abies numidica on Mount Babor. He noticed that many of the trees had short stout trunks, free of branches to 10 or 12 feet, occasionally more or less twisted, and often dividing into several stems. " In Bull. Soc. Bot. France, lui. 154, t. 3 (1906). In the plate, the name Picea marocana, Trabut, appears by mistake. Abies 739 The tree is rare in cultivation in England. There are two or three young specimens at Kew ; and Kent, writing in 1900, mentions small trees, about 20 feet high, growing at Bicton, and Streatham Hall in Devonshire. At Pampisford, Cambridgeshire, there are two trees with fine healthy foliage, the larger of which, 37 feet high and 3 feet 2 inches in girth, bore cones in 1907. There is also a specimen at Highnam 35 feet by 3 feet 2 inches. Though we have not identified any specimens in Scotland Mr. Crozier speaks of it as a handsome and free-growing tree which bore cones in 1906 and seems quite at home at Durris. In Ireland the finest we know of is at Fota, where a tree 39 feet by 6 feet was bearing cones in 1908. Lord Barrymore informs us that it was planted in 1878. There is a good specimen at Glasnevin, 38 feet by 3 feet 7 inches in 1906 ; and one at Castlewellan measured, in the same year, 25 feet by 3 feet. At Verrières1 near Paris, two trees, dating from the original introduction in 1862, were, in 1905, 46 feet in height by 4 feet 3 inches in girth. (H. J. E.) ABIES CEPHALONICA, GREEK FIR Abies cephalonica, Loudon, Arb. et Fntt. Brit. iv. 2325 (1838); Masters, Gard. Chron. xxii. 592, f. 105 (1884); Kent, Veitch's Man. Conifera, 498(1900); Haläcsy, Consp. Fl. Grcecce, iii. 450 (1904). Abies Apollinis, Link, Linnœa, xv. 528 (1841). Abies Reginœ Amaliœ, Heldreich, Gartenflora, ix. 313 (1860). Abies Panachaica, Heldreich, Gartenflora, x. 286 (1861). Picea cephalonica, Loudon, Gard. Mag. xv. 238 (1839). Pinus cephalonica, Endlicher, Cat. Hort. Vindob. 1218(1842). A tree attaining about ioo feet in height. Bark greyish brown, smooth in young trees, in old trees fissuring into small oblong plates. Buds conical or ovoid, obtuse at the apex, composed of thick ovate acute keeled scales, with prominent tips, and covered with a layer of resin. Young shoots smooth, light brown, shining, glabrous. Leaves on lateral branches radially arranged, but not so regularly as in A. Pinsapo, their apices pointing outwards and slightly forwards, those of the upper ranks shorter than those beneath. Leaves linear, flattened, curved, about i inch long, TV to ^ inch broad, abruptly tapering at the base, narrowing gradually in the anterior two-thirds, and ending in a long cartilaginous point ; upper surface dark green, shining, with the median furrow not continued to the apex, and usually with several broken lines of stomata ; lower surface with two white bands of stomata, each of seven or eight lines; resin-canals marginal. Leaves on cone-bearing branches all upturned, curved, rigid, broad, with the apex simply acute and not prolonged into a fine cartilaginous point. Cones, on short stout stalks, about 6 inches long by \\ inch in diameter, cylindrical, slightly tapering at both ends, brownish, with the bracts golden brown, exposed, and reflexed. Scales: lamina narrowly fan-shaped, almost triangular; 1 Hortus Vilmorinianus, 69, pi. I (1906). 74° The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland upper margin convex, undulate or entire ; lateral margins with two short denticulate wings ; base curving but not auricled on each side of the oblong claw. Bracts : claw oblong, ^ inch wide, extending f the length of the scale ; lamina lozenge-shaped, % inch wide, denticulate, ending in a triangular mucro, exserted and reflexed over the edge of the scale next below. Seed-wing about twice as long as the seed ; seed with wing about i inch long. Seedling ;* caulicle tapering upwards, reddish brown, erect, stout. Cotyledons, five or six, acute not mucronate, about i£ inch long ; upper surface dotted irregularly with stomata and grooved in the middle line. Primary leaves half the length of the cotyledons, not mucronate ; lower surface with stomata. Var. Apollinis, Beissner, Nadelholzkunde, 440 (1891). Abies Apollinis, Link, Linnaea, xv. 528 (1841). This variety differs from the type in the arrangement and shape of the leaves. On lateral branchlets the radial arrangement is imperfect, most of the leaves standing crowded on the upper side of the branchlet, with their apices directed upwards, those in the middle line straight and vertical, those on the sides curved and bending upwards ; on the lower side of the branchlet a few leaves are directed downwards and forwards. Leaves thicker and broader than in the type, about i£ inch long by ^ to ^ inch broad, ending in a short acute point, bevelled off from behind ; upper surface with a continuous median groove and two to three short lines of stomata near the tip ; lower surface with two bands of stomata, each of ten lines. The cones do not differ in any essential characters from those of the type ; and the differences noted by Murray2 in the broader bract and expanded wing of the seed are trifling and inconstant. Halàcsy considers Abies Reginœ Amaliœ and Abies panachaiaca to be mere synonyms of Abies cephalonica ; and only allows the variety Apollinis, distinguished, according to him, by its acute leaves, those in the type ending in an acuminate or very sharp spine-like point. According to other authorities, A. Reginœ Amaliœ is more akin to var. Apollinis than to the type. In all probability there is a series of intermediate forms connecting the type and var. Apollinis:1' DISTRIBUTION According to Haläcsy this species occurs in the sub-alpine region of almost all the higher mountains of Greece, between 2700 and 5700 feet elevation. The type is met with in the island of Cephalonia on Mount Enos ; and on the mainland— m Doris on Mount Kiona, in Attica on Mount Farnes, and in Arcadia on » Masters, in MS., who states that in var. Apollinis the cotyledons are seven in number, sub-acute at the apex, and about I inch long ; primary leaves shorter and more pointed than the cotyledons. * Proc. Roy. Hort. Soc. iii. 141 (1863). • Guim« and Maire, in Bull. Soc. Bot. France, Iv. 187, figs. 2 and 3 (1908), describe a variety, with leaves like those of A. cilicua, which grows on Mount Pjndus in Thessaly. Abies Mounts Msenalus, Madara, Thaumasion, and Rhudia. Var. Apollinis occurs, in Epirus on Mounts Tsumerka, Strungula, Peristeri ; in Thessaly, on Pindus and Olympus ; in Eubcea on Mount Dirphys. It has also been found in Hellas on Mounts Œta, Tymphrestus, Parnassus, Helicon, Cithseron, Pateras, and Parnes ; and in Peloponnesus on Mounts Chelmos, Olenos, Malevo, Taygetos. As Halàcsy considers Abies Reginœ Amaliœ to be the same as the type, and not the var. Apollinis, his account of the distribution differs from that generally adopted, in which the view taken is that the type is confined to the island of Cephalonia, and that all the continental forms are referable to the var. Apollinis? In Cephalonia the forest of this species occurs on Mount Enos, along a ridge 4000 to 5000 feet above sea-level and about 12 to 15 miles in length. It was 36 miles in circumference in 1793 ; but its area was considerably reduced by disastrous fires in 1798. No recent account of this forest, of which full details were given by General Napier in 1833, nas come under our notice. The form which occurs in the mountains of Arcadia, distinguished as var. Reginœ Amaliœ'2' by some authors, is remarkable for its capacity of producing coppice shoots, when the trunk is felled ; and the main stem, even when untouched, is said often to produce secondary stems and branches from the old wood. (A. H.) CULTIVATION Seeds3 were first sent from Cephalonia to England by General Sir Charles Napier in 1824; and the first plants, few in number, were raised by Mr. C. Hoare of Luscombe Castle, who distributed them to various places.4 Some time after wards Mr. Charlwood5 sold seeds to the public, having received a cask of cones from General Napier. The form Reginœ Amaliœ was first noticed in 1856 by Schmidt of Athens, who found a forest of this tree near Tripolitza in Central Arcadia ; its seeds have recently been introduced abundantly. A. cephalonica seems to be quite hardy over the greater part of Great Britain, but it is rather more susceptible to spring frosts than A. Pinsapo, because it starts earlier into growth, and on this account should not be planted in low, damp, or exposed places. It seems to grow on limestone, but not to be so distinctly a lime- loving tree as A. Pinsapo. It ripens seeds in good years in the south of England, but the seedlings which I have raised do not grow so fast as those of A. Pinsapo? 1 With regard to the occurrence of this variety in Roumelia, Macedonia, and Thrace, see our remarks on p. 722 concerning the distribution of A. pectinata in the Balkan peninsula. 2 See Regel, Gartenßora, ix. 299, fig. (1860); and Seemann, Gard. Chron. 1861, p. 755 fig. 3 London, loc. cit. 4 A list of these places is given in Loudon, Gard. Mag. 1838, p. 31, and in Pinetum Britannicum, ii. p. 179. " Loudon, Gard. Mag. 1839, p. 238. 6 Owing to its susceptibility to late frosts and to attack by Chermes, it is now nearly impossible to grow this tree up to a planting size. Its timber, when closely grown and of some age, is, in my opinion, the best of the European silver firs, being hard, close in texture, and heavier in a dry state than any I have yet handled. Var. Apollinis is less subject to injury by frosts and attack by Chermes than the above, and seems well adapted for planting in the north of Scotland. In cultivation it maintains a more conical outline, and is easily distinguished from the type.—(J. D. CROZIER.) The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland REMARKABLE TREES Probably the finest tree in the British Isles is the one growing at Barton, Bury St. Edmunds, which in 1908 was 95 feet in height by 13 feet 3 inches in girth. This tree (Plate 214) is very symmetrical, branched to the ground, and in full vigour, though probably it has nearly attained its limit of height, as the top of the crown of foliage is flattened. This is one of the original plants raised at Luscombe, and was planted at Barton in 1838, being then about thirteen or fourteen years old. According to Bunbury,1 it did not suffer in the slightest degree from the severe winter of 1860. In 1857, it was 35 feet in height ; and in 1858 began to bear cones, which are confined to the topmost of the lateral branchlets. In 1867, the height had increased to 58 feet, and the trunk at three feet from the ground was 7 feet in girth. Seedlings have been frequently raised from its seed. One of these seedlings, which was sent many years ago to Lord Rayleigh, is now growing at Terling Place, Essex, and measures 53 feet high and 3 feet 3 inches in girth. Another of the original trees is now growing at Luscombe Castle, near Dawlish, in a rather exposed place, about 200 feet above sea level ; when I saw it, in April 1908, it was a healthy and well-shaped tree, 75 feet by n feet. There is a very fine healthy tree at Blount's Court, Oxfordshire, which Henry measured in 1907, as 87 feet in height by 10 feet 8 inches in girth. Another planted at the Coppice, Henley, in 1860, measured in 1905, 62 feet high by 8^- feet in girth. At Pampisford, Cambridgeshire, there are two trees, the larger of which was, in 1908, 55 feet by 6 feet i inch. The Cephalonian fir has been largely planted on Lord Walsingham's estate at Merton, Norfolk, the largest specimen, 52 feet by 9 feet 7 inches, dating from 1852. On the Thetford road there is an avenue of these trees, growing in loose, shallow sand, which have attained at forty-eight years old an average girth of 8^- feet. The growth of the tap-root is stopped by the compact chalk sub-soil, wide-spreading horizontal roots being formed, which have no great hold in the shifting sand ; and several trees have been uprooted by storms. At Heron Court, near Christchurch, I measured in 1906 a very large tree with ragged top, 82 feet by 10 feet 8 inches. At Beauport, Sussex, there is a good tree, which in 1904 was about 80 feet high by 10 feet 3 inches in girth. At Powderham there is a very large and spreading, but ill-shaped tree, which appears as though in the mild, soft climate of south Devon it would not be long lived. In 1892 it was recorded as the largest in Great Britain, being then 77 feet by 11 feet at 3 feet from the ground. At Killerton there is a large tree which measured in 1903 80 feet by n feet 9 inches. It forks at about 25 feet. At Highclere another, in the same year, measured 75 feet by n feet. At High Canons, Herts, Mr. H. Clinton Baker measured a tree in 1908, which was 58 feet by 8 feet 3 inches. At Bayfordbury, a tree planted in 1847 was 7° feet by 6 feet n inches in 1905. At Castle Kennedy there is a very wide-spreading tree, which in 1904 measured 1 Arboretum Notes, 144. Abies 743 59 feet by 9 feet 8 inches. Around it were several natural seedlings, from i foot to 5 feet in height. At Smeaton-Hepburn another measured, in 1905, 53 feet high by IG feet in girth. A number of Cephalonian firs were planted at Blairadam, the seat of Sir Charles Adam, Bart, in Kinross-shire, by his ancestor Sir Frederick Adam, who was governor of the Ionian Islands in 1824, and who was censured by General Napier for not sufficiently protecting the forests in Cephalonia. Several of these trees still survive at Blairadam, the largest in the garden near the entrance gate being 49 feet high, and 8 feet 2 inches in girth at 4 feet. It divides into several stems at about 25 feet. Another measures 42 by 5^ feet, and there are several smaller ones, but the tops in most cases have been at various times injured by wind and frost. In other parts of Scotland the tree grows fairly well, but not so fast as in the south, the best I have heard of being at Abercairney, where Mr. Bean1 records one 75 feet high in 1906. As this, however, was in 1892 only reported as 50 feet high there may be a mistake. Other good trees are growing at Whittingehame, East Lothian, at Haddo House, Aberdeenshire, and at Ochtertyre,1 Perthshire. In Ireland, the largest Cephalonian Fir known to us, is growing at Adare Manor, Co. Limerick, the seat of the Earl of Dunraven ; and, in 1903, was 86 feet high by 9 feet 4 inches in girth. At Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow, a tree measured, in 1903, 55 feet by 8 feet 9 inches; and at Hamwood, Co. Meath, there is a fair specimen which in 1904 was 50 feet by 9 feet 6 inches. At Cahir Park, Co. Tipperary, there are four trees of nearly equal size, one measuring 46 feet by 6 feet 2 inches. Specimens sent in 1906 by Mr. Austin Mackenzie show that these trees belong to var. Apollinis. In the Botanic Garden at Bergielund, near Stockholm, a tree, planted in 1890, was, when seen by Henry in August 1908, 30 feet in height and i foot in diameter, and exceeds in rapidity of growth all the other conifers in the garden. In the Botanic Garden, at Christiania, there is a tree, about 25 feet in height, which is, however, not quite hardy, being slightly browned by frost. Hansen2 says that this species had attained in 1891 a height of 44 feet and a girth of 6 feet, at 40 years old, in the gardens at Carlsberg, near Copenhagen. A. cephalonùa has proved hardy8 in eastern Massachusetts, where it has already borne cones. Though General Napier stated that the wood of this tree in Cephalonia is very hard and durable, yet as grown in this country it is not likely to have any economic value, as it is too knotty and coarse for any but the commonest purposes. (H. J. E.) J Ktw Bulletin, 1906, pp. 266, 267. 2 Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc. xiv. 463 (1892). 3 Sargent, Sihia N. Amer. xii. 99, adnot. (1898). Sargent, however, states in his account of the Pinetum at Wellesley in 1905, p. 12, that the tree here, which is 51 feet by 6 feet, was considerably injured in the severe winter of 1903-4. 744 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland ABIES CILICICA, CILICIAN FIR Abies cilicica, Carrière, Conif. 229 (1855), and flore des Serres, xi. 67, t. 1108 (1856) ; Tchihatcheff, Asie Mineure, ii. 494 (1860); Heuzé in Rev. Hort. 1856, p. 81, f. 14; Kent, Veitch's Man. Coniferœ, 500 (1900); Hickel, in Bull. Soc. Dend. France, 1908, p. 183. Abies selinusia, Carrière, Flore des Serres, xi. 69 (1856). Pinus cilicica, Kotschy, Oestr. Bot. Wochenbl. iii. 409 (1853). Picea cilicica, Gordon, Pin. Suppl. 50 (1862). A tree attaining in Asia Minor TOO feet in height and 7 feet in girth. Bark ashy-grey in colour, smooth in young trees, deeply fissured and scaly in old trees. Buds* small, non-resinous, ovoid, acute at the apex ; scales few, keeled, with their tips more or less free and not appressed. Young shoots smooth, greyish-brown, with scattered short erect pubescence ; bark fissuring slightly on the second year's shoot. Leaves on lateral branches usually pectinately arranged, the upper ranks pointing outwards and upwards, thus forming a V-shaped depression above between the two lateral sets ; on vigorous shoots, the median leaves on the upper side are directed forwards and upwards, and cover the branchlet, the V-shaped depression being obliterated. Leaves thin and slender, i to \\ inch long, ^ inch wide, linear, flattened, uniform in width except at the tapering base, apex rounded or acute and slightly bifid ; upper surface light green with a continuous median groove and usually without stomata, rarely with two to three short lines in the groove near the apex ; under surface with two narrow greyish bands of stomata, each of six to seven lines ; resin-canals marginal. Leaves on cone-bearing branches, upturned, curved, more rigid and broader than those on barren branches, minutely bifid at the truncate or obtuse apex. Cones of wild trees subsessile or on short stout stalks, cylindrical, tapering to an acute apex, 6 to 9 inches long by 2 to 2^ inches in diameter, brownish when ripe. Scales2 larger than in any other species ; lamina if inch wide, -f inch long, fan-shaped, upper margin thin and entire, lateral margins convex, denticulate, with a sinus on each side ; claw short, obcuneate. Bract with an oblong claw, expanding above into an ovate or quadrangular denticulate lamina, tipped with a short mucro, extending to £ or ^ the height of the scale. Seed-wing about i^ times as long as the seed ; seed with wing about i|- inch long. In cultivated specimens, scales smaller, i^ inch wide by f inch long ; bracts with a very short claw and a lamina not reaching more than \ the height of the scale ; seed with wing about i inch long. DISTRIBUTION This species is confined to Asia Minor and northern Syria, occurring on the Lebanon and the Antitaurus, and forming, in company with the cedar, great forests 1 The buds are characteristic ; and, as Hickel points out, distinguish this species from all the others. a The peculiar hook-like processes of the scales which occur in some specimens are probably abnormal. Abies 745 in the Cilician Taurus. It was first discovered by Kotschy1 in the Cilician Taurus in August 1853, in the valley of Agatsch Kisse, at an elevation of 4000 to 5000 feet. It is known to the Turks as Ak Illeden, white fir, and grows in thick forests sometimes unmixed with other trees, sometimes in company with oaks, cedars, and junipers. Yew and Pinus Laricio also occur in these forests, which are protected from woodcutters by their inaccessibility. The climate of these mountains is extremely hot in summer, and cold in winter, with much snow in the upper region. Post2 says that it is found in alpine and subalpine Lebanon, and in the Amanus Mountains in the extreme north of Syria, but does not give any details of its size or the elevation at which it grows. CULTIVATION The first seeds, received by the museum at Paris in 1854 from M. Blanch, French Consul at Saida, failed to germinate. Balansa sent a good supply of seed in 1855. From these or from Kotschy's seed the few trees which we have found in England were probably raised. The Cilician fir is extremely rare in cultivation in this country. The best speci men we have found is a tree, growing at Welford Park, Newbury, which in 1908 was 51 feet by 4 feet 4 inches. Mr. Ross, the gardener, informs us that he found this tree as a small plant in a pot, when he came to Welford Park in May, 1860. The tree has been considered by many people to be Abies homolepis, and was figured in the Garden, for 1904, under that name. It is unquestionably, however, Abies cilicica, of which it has the foliage, and only differs slightly from wild specimens in the smaller size of the cones and scales. Mr. A. B. Jackson has identified two at Bicton, 48 feet by 4 feet and 47 feet by 3^ feet respectively ; and another at the Heath, Leighton Buzzard, which is 48 feet by 3 feet 10 inches. The finest in Scotland is a tree at Durris, which Mr. Crozier reports to be 55 feet high and 5 feet 8 inches in girth. It was incorrectly labelled A. amabilis. Another good specimen is growing at Castle Kennedy, which measured in 1904, 48 feet in height by 5 feet i inch in girth. A second tree here, not so tall, is very thriving. Kent mentions a tree at Rossdhu in Dumbartonshire. A tree at Glasnevin was 34 feet by 3 feet 2 inches in 1907 ; and a specimen, at Powerscourt, 37 feet by 2 feet 8 inches in 1906, did not seem to be very thriving. There is a good specimen at Verrières, near Paris, of which a figure is given by M. Philippe L. de Vilmorin in Hortus Vilmorinianus (plate i). This tree is about 60 feet high. Another and slightly taller tree is growing in the Parc de Cheverny, in the department of Loir et Cher. Pardé says that at Harcourt (Eure) it reproduces itself naturally. According to Sargent,8 Abies cilicica, with the exception of Abies concolor, is the most beautiful of those silver firs, which are perfectly hardy and satisfactory in the north-eastern states of the U.S. Some trees are 40 feet in height, notably at 1 Reise in den Cilicischcn Taurus (1858). IV a Flora of Syria, p. 751. 3 Suva N. Amer. xii. 99 adnot. (1898). F 746 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland Mr. Hunnewell's pinetum, Wellesley, Mass, j1 Mr. Hall's garden, near Bristol, Rhode Island; and Mr. Hoope's pinetum, West Chester, Pennsylvania. Sargent states that the tree does not thrive in western Europe, as the young shoots, which appear early in the spring, are killed by late frosts ; and in consequence it is not propagated by nurserymen. Seeds from wild trees are difficult to procure. (A. H.) ABIES NORDMANN I AN A, CAUCASIAN FIR Abies Nordmanniana, Spach, Hist. Vég. xi. 418 (1842) ; Regel, in Gartenflora, xx. 259, t. 699 (1871) ; J. D. Hooker, Bot. Mag. t. 6992 (1888); Masters, Gard. Chron. xxv. 142, f. 30 (1886); Kent, Veitch's Man. Coniferœ, 526 (1900). Pinus Nordmanniana, Steven, Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscow, xi. 45, t. 2 (1838); Loudon, Gard. Mag. xv. 225 (1839). Picea Nordmanniana, Loudon, Encycl. Trees, 1042 (1842). A tree attaining in the Caucasus over 200 feet in height and 15 feet in girth. Bark in cultivated trees greyish brown, smooth when young, becoming slightly fissured in older trunks. Buds ovoid, acute at the apex, brown, non-resinous, with ovate, acute, slightly keeled scales. Young shoots grey, smooth, with very scattered short erect pubescence. Leaves on lateral branchlets, pectinately arranged below, the two lateral sets spreading more or less in the horizontal plane ; those above shorter, directed forwards and densely covering the branchlet in imbricated ranks. Leaves linear, flattened, about i to \\ inch long, ^ to ^ inch wide, uniform in width except at the gradually tapering base ; apex rounded and bifid ; upper surface dark green, shining, with a continuous median groove and without stomata ; lower surface with two con spicuously white bands of stomata, each of eight or nine lines ; resin-canals marginal. Leaves on cone-bearing branches all curved and upturned. Staminate flowers ovoid-cylindric, ^ inch long, each with three series of involucral bracts. Cones sub-sessile, cylindrical, tapering at both ends, about 6 inches long by 2 inches in diameter, brown in colour, with the bracts exserted and reflexed. Scales : lamina, about \\ inch wide by f inch long, either with a denticulate wing on each side or with straight lateral margins; claw obcuneate. Bract with oblong claw, expanding above into an almost orbicular lamina, which is denticulate and tipped with a long triangular mucro. Seed with wing about an inch long, the wing being twice the length of the body of the seed. VARIETIES AND HYBRIDS Several varieties are mentioned by Beissner, which are said to differ from the type in foliage, the leaves being shorter, glaucous, or yellow in colour. None of these appear to be in cultivation in England. 1 Elwes saw this tree in May 1905, and remarked that it was very similar in growth to A. Nordmanniana, which has shorter darker leaves and denser habit. It had not suffered from the severe frost of the preceding winter which in some places had injured the Caucasian fir. According to Sargent, The Pinetum at Wellesley in 1905, p. 12, this tree is 49 feet high and 5 feet in girth. Abies 747 Var. equi-Trojam, Guinier and Maire.1 A peculiar form, discovered by Sintenis on Mount Ida in north-west Anatolia. It has reddish-brown glabrous shoots, leaves acute at the apex and only slightly emarginate, and cones with bracts much exserted and almost concealing the scales. The hybrids, which have been obtained between A. Nordmanniana and A. Pinsapo are dealt with in our article on the latter species. DISTRIBUTION This species is a native of the mountains in the southern and south-eastern shores of the Black Sea, including the western spurs of the Caucasus. According to Radde,2 it is entirely absent from the eastern parts of the Caucasus and Talysch, its easterly limit being longitude 42°. It usually grows between 3000 and 6600 feet elevation, and either forms pure forests or is associated with Picea orientalis, being occasionally mixed both with that species and Pinus sylvestris. It is said to prefer calcareous soil and to be dominant on the limestone formations, which are not so favourable to the growth of the oriental spruce and the common pine. In pure forests, the trees stand very close together ; and in their deep shade underwood is absent and no light reaches the ground, which is very dry and covered with a thick layer of brown needles. Such forests are the last hiding-place of the European bison in a truly wild condition. The largest tree mentioned by Radde, the age of which is not given, grew in the valley of the Labba in the district of Kuban, and measured 213 feet in height and 15 feet in girth at breast height, and the stem alone had a volume of 1236 cubic feet. On an area of about 2^ acres in this forest fifteen trees nearly as large were growing. It thrives best and attains its largest size at high elevations, 5000 to 6000 feet; where stems 150 to 170 feet in height, with a girth of 10 feet, are quite common. The oldest tree, which is recorded by Radde, was 370 years old, and measured 170 feet high by 10 feet in girth. Abies Nordmanniana was also found by Balansa8 in Lazistan, and by Sintenis8 at Kostambul in Paphlagonia. Guinier and Maire4 in 1904 found it growing on Mount Olympus in Bithynia, where, on the northern slope between 3700 and 6000 feet, it forms extensive forests, either pure or mixed with Pinus Laricio, beech, oak, and chestnut, and constituting the timber line at 6300 feet. These botanists state that on Olympus, as well as in the Caucasus, it is a light-demanding tree, a least in the young stage, as the seeds everywhere germinate in open and unshaded places. The discovery by these authors of A. Nordmanniana on Mount Olympus and of the van equi-Trojani on Mount Ida extends the distribution of this species westwards through northern Asia Minor to the borders of the ^igean Sea. 1 In Bull. Soc. Bot. France, Iv. 186, fig. I (1908). This variety was referred to A. pectinata by Boissier, in Fl. Orientalis, v. 701 (1881). 2 Pßanzenverb. Kaukasusländ, 184, 222, 244, etc. (1899). 3 Specimens in Kew herbarium. 4 In Bull. Soc. Bot. France, Iv. 185, fig. I (1908). The silver fir on Mount Olympus was erroneously identified with A. pectinata by Boissier in Flora Orientalis, v. 701 (1881). 748 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland Abies Nordmanniana was first recognised as a distinct species by the Finnish botanist, Nordmann, Professor at Odessa, whose name it bears. He found it in 1836 in the Caucasian province of Imeretia. Pallas and other early botanists had referred the Caucasian silver fir to Abies pectinata. It was introduced1 into Europe in 1848, when Alexander von Humboldt obtained seeds from the Caucasus, which were sown in the Berlin Botanic Garden. (A. H.) CULTIVATION No other silver fir found in the Old World is more thoroughly at home in Great Britain, for it grows luxuriantly on soils where the common silver fir will not thrive ; is absolutely uninjured by spring frost, even in a young state, and ripens seed as far north as Perthshire and County Down. It seems equally at home on rich loam in the south-east of England, on oolite gravel in the Cotswold Hills, and in the peaty soil and wet climate of Argyllshire. Out of 102 returns sent to the Conifer Conference from all parts of Great Britain, 78 mention this tree and nearly all speak well of it, though it is said to fail at about thirty years old on strong loam in Worcestershire, and to be liable to aphis at Durris in Kincardineshire.2 Sir Herbert Maxwell3 states that the Crimean silver fir (a misleading name, as it does not occur wild in the Crimea), after it attains twenty to thirty years of age, frequently succumbs to the attacks of aphis, and gives as an instance in proof of this, that at Benmore, where large numbers were planted thirty to forty years ago, very few now remain. But I do not think that this is a fair example, as the climate of Benmore is very wet, and the soil in many places very shallow. In the warmer and drier parts of Scotland I have seen many flourishing specimens, though not so fine as in England. Wilkie4 says that at Tyninghame, in East Lothian, it is later in starting growth than the common silver fir, grows more freely when young, and either for use or ornament is certainly the more valuable of the two. Webster, also, whose experience was gained in Ireland, North Wales, and Kent, says,5 " If A. nobilis be the best of the Californian silver firs, this is without doubt the finest of the European or Asiatic species." He expected that at no distant date it would supplant the silver fir for forest planting, the timber being of excellent quality, the tree more ornamental, and less exacting as regards soil. He says that it succeeds well on reclaimed peat bog, stiff loam, decomposed vegetable matter, and light gravelly soils. 1 Hansen, \i\fourn. Roy. Horl. Sac. xiv. 471 (1892). In the catalogue of the Pinetum at Beernem, in western Flanders, Baron Serret says that he received his specimen in April 1847, from Lawson and Son, Edinburgh ; and the earliest intro duction would seem from this to have been prior to that stated by Hansen. 2 A. Nordmanniana, the most susceptible of all silvers to attack by Chermes either in a seedling or older state. For general purposes this tree is doomed, and it is only by repeated spraying with insecticide that it will be possible to preserve even the largest specimens. In growth, it has proved itself much slower than A. pectinata, and being densely branched and of a shade-bearing nature, its timber when cut up has generally been coarse and knotty. In Scotland it has never been regarded by foresters as of economic importance.—(J. D. CROZIER.) 3 Green's Encyclopedia of Agriculture, ii. 112 (1908). The erroneous statement that this fir occurs wild in the Crimea appears to have been first made in Veitch's Man. Coniferœ, ist ed. 102 (1881), and has been repeated by Masters, Hansen, the Kew Handlist of Conifers, etc. No species of Abies grows wild in the Crimea. Cf. Démidoff, Voyage Russie Méridionale et la Crimée, ii. 231, 232, 375, 646 (1842). 4 Trans. Royal Scot. Art. Soc. xii. 211 (1889). 6 Ibid. 257. Abies 749 As the seed can now be procured in quantity and at a cheap rate, even when home-grown seed is not available, there seems to be no reason why this beautiful tree should not be raised at the same rate as the common silver fir and planted in preference to the latter, for though it has not yet had time to attain its full size in this country it grows quite as fast, and from what little we know of its timber is likely to be at least as valuable. Its average rate of growth is from i to 2 feet annually when once established ; and though we have as yet no evidence that it will endure dense shade as well as the silver fir, yet the accounts of its growth in the Caucasus lead one to expect that it will do so. REMARKABLE TREES Among the numerous specimens that we have measured in various places in England, I have seen none to surpass a very healthy and vigorous tree which grows in a wood facing east on the banks of the river at Eggesford, the property of the Earl of Portsmouth in Devonshire, which in April 1904 measured 84 feet by 5 feet 7 inches, and had produced cones. But a tree growing in a wood called Hook's Grove at Bayfordbury is perhaps taller ; it was about 85 feet by 6 feet 10 inches in 1907. At Strathfieldsaye, in the same year, I measured one as 78 feet by 6 feet 7 inches, and at Hemsted, in Kent, there is a tall but very slender specimen, not over forty years planted, which bids fair to become a very large tree. In 1905 it was 68 feet by only 3 feet 7 inches. At Lynhales, Herefordshire, the seat of S. Robinson, Esq., another is 70 feet by 5^ feet and growing freely. In Wales it is thriving at Penrhyn ; where there are two trees, one with its top broken being about 75 feet by 10 feet; the other even taller measures 6 feet 10 inches in girth ; and at Hafodunos, where it does well in plantations, Henry measured one 60 feet by 6 feet 7 inches in 1904. In Scotland the largest recorded in 1891 was at Poltalloch, and then was said to measure 70 feet by 6 feet, but when measured by Mr. Melville in 1906 he made it only 73^ feet by 7 feet 4 inches. The finest I have seen myself is one at Moncreiffe which, in 1907, I made to be no less than 79 feet by 6^ feet ; a healthy tree from which many seedlings have been raised. This is stated by Hunter to have been planted about 1856, and in 1888 was only 30 feet by 2 feet 2 inches. It is said to have been hybridised by the silver fir, but I could not see anything in the seedlings to distinguish them. In Ireland it also grows very well. A tree at Carton, the seat of the Duke of Leinster, was 74 feet by 5 feet 4 inches, and one at Fota 68 feet by about 6 feet in 1903. Another at Mount Shannon, Limerick, measured, in 1905, 75 feet by 8 feet 9 inches. A good specimen at Ballykilcavan, Queen's County, measured 68 feet by 5 feet 2 inches in 1907. There are many fine healthy specimens at Dereen in Co. Kerry. In the University Botanic Garden at Upsala, in Sweden, a tree was seen by Henry in 1908 which was about 40 feet high and branched into three stems near the ground, the result evidently of injury to the leader by severe frost in early youth. 75° The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland According to Hansen,1 it is said to thrive at Trondhjem in Norway, but Henry saw no specimens at Trondhjem or Christiania. It is often planted in Danish gardens and forests, and is quite hardy in Denmark. According to Sargent,2 it is very hardy in the eastern United States, as far north, at least, as eastern Massachusetts, but although handsome when young, is apt to become thin and shabby here at an early stage. (H. J. E.) ABIES WEBBIANA, HIMALAYAN FIR Abies Webbiana, Lindley, Penny Cyclop, i. 30 (1833); Griffith, Icon. As. PI. t. 371 (1854) ; Masters, Gard. Chron. xxii. 467, f. 86 (1884), and x. 395, f. 47 (1891); Hooker, Gard. Chron. xxv. 788, ff. 174, 175 (1886), and Flora Brit. India, \. 654 (188