CHAP. CXI1I.

coni'fera:. pi'cea.

2339

I 3. P. balsa'mea L. The Balm of Gilead, or American, Silver Fir.

Synonymes. Pinus balsimea Lin. Sp . PA, 1421., St/st., ed.

Reich., 4. p. 176., Smith in Rees's Cyc., No. 26., Gron. Virg.,

% p. 152., Wang. Beit., p. 40., Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., t. 41.,

Du Roi Harbk., ed. Pott., 2. p. 144.; P. ^'bies balsameaMarsh. Arb. Amer p. 102.; ^4'bies T^xi folio, &c., Hort.

Angl., 2. p. 2., Du Ham. Arb., 1. p. 3., Pluk. Aim., 2. t. 121.,

A. balsaminea N. Du Ham., 5. p. 295.; A. balsamffera Michx.

H. Amer. Syl, 3. p. 191. ; Balsam Fir; le Baume de Gilead,le Sapin Baumier de Gilead, Fr, j Balsam Fichte, BalsamTanne Ger.

Engravings Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 1.1. 41.; Pluck. Aim., 2.1.121.f. 1.; N. Du Ham., 5. t. 83., f. 2.; Mich. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t.

150. j and our Jig. 2242. to our usual scale, and Jigs. 2240.and 2241. of the natural size.

Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves solitary, silvery beneath,apex emarginate, or entire; somewhat recurved,and spreading. Cones cylindrical, violet-co-loured ; and pointingupwards. ( Michx. )

Leaves J- in. long.

Cones 4 in. to 4J in.long, and \ in. broad;scales from §• in. tof in. broad, and f in.long. Seed, with thewing, | in. long, and§ in. broad. Seedvery small, irregular;

2240 about half the size

of that of the common silver fir. Cotyledons,?.

A tree, introduced in 1696. In Britain, sel-dom above 20 ft. high ; flowering in May,and ripening its cones in autumn.

Variety.

J F. h. 2 longifolia Booth has leaves longerthan the sheaths, with the branchessomewhat more upright.

Description, §c. A pyramidal tree, in general appearance resembling thesilver fir of Europe; but seldom found, even in America, above 20 ft. or 30 ft.in height, and not of more than the same number of years in duration. Thetrunk tapers from 1 ft. in diameter at the surface of the ground, to 7 in. or8 in. at the height of 6 ft. When standing alone, it forms a regular pyramidalhead, abundantly furnished with branches and cones. The leaves are 6 or 8lines long; of a bright but dark green above, and a silvery white beneath.The male catkins are numerous, crowded round the shoots of the precedingseason, and more persistent than in the silver fir. The cones are nearlycylindrical, of a darker purple than in the silver fir; 4 in. or 5 in. long, 1 in.in diameter, tapering towards the upper extremity, and generally sprinkledwith resin, at least on one side. The bark is thickly interspersed withsmall vesicles, containing a clear limpid resin. The wood is light, yel-lowish, and slightly resinous. The rate of growth, in the climate of London,is rather more rapid than that of the silver fir, the tree attaining the height of104 ft. in as many years, and arriving at maturity in 20 or 23 years; soon afterwhich it dies, the symptoms of its decay being, as observed in Lawson’sManual, an apparent overflow of sap, and an unnatural thickening of the ter-minal shoots ; which may probably arise from the richness of the soil and thewarmness of the situation in which the tree is planted. The balm of Gileadfir was cultivated by Bishop Compton in 1697; and its seeds being gene-rally imported, and sometimes ripened, in this country, it is easily procured in