2320

ARBORETUM AND FltUTICETUM.

PART Ill.

of A. D. taxifblia in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden is 8 ft. high, di-ameter of the head 4 ft. 6 in., and of the trunk 3 in. The treeof A. Douglasii in the Caledonian Horticultural Society’s GardenMr. M‘Nab describes as a large bush, with a very weak leadingshoot, 8 ft. high, diameter of the head 10 ft., and of the trunk 4 in.

Description, §c. A large conical tree, with a rugged greyish brown bark,from 6 in. to 9 in. thick, and abounding in balsamic resin. Leaves somewhatpectinate and spreading, narrow-linear, obtuse on the margin and apex, quiteentire, flat; dark green above, marked on the middle with a depressed line,and silvery beneath; 1 in. long. Male catkins short, dense, obtuse, scarcely^ in. long. Bracteas scarious, concave, very obtuse, ciliate and torn on themargin. Anthers obcordate, very short, 2-celled; crest very short, obtuse,thick, tubercle-like. Cones terminal on the apex of the branches, solitary,pendulous, ovate-oblong, bright brown, with many linear acuminate bracteasat the base; scales roundish, concave, coriaceous, quite entire, persistent,smooth. Bracteoles linear, tricuspidate, cartilaginous and membranaceous,twice as long as the scales; teeth acuminate, middle one by much the longest.Seeds oval; testacrustaceous ; wing elliptic, obtuse, chestnut brown, slightlyconvex on the exterior margin. (Lamb., Penn. Cyc., and obs.) According toDouglas, the trunks of this species, in the forests of the north-west of Ame-rica , vary from 2 ft. to 10 ft. in diameter, and from 100 ft. to 180 ft, in height.Occasionally, the tree arrives at still greater dimensions; as a proof of which,Douglas mentions a stump which still exists near Fort George, on theColumbia river, which, exclusive of the bark, and at 3 ft. from the ground,measured 48 ft. in circumference. The bark in young trees has its recepta-cles filled with a clear yellow resin, in the same manner as that of the balmof Gilead; and the bark of old trees is said to make excellent fuel. Thetimber is heavy, firm, with few knots, about the same yellow colour as that ofthe yew, and not in the least liable to warp. The rate of growth of this tree,in the climate of London , appears to be nearly as great as that of the commonspruce; but, as it has a tendency to send out a profusion of side branches,it does not increase in height so much as it does in width and bushiness.It often protrudes two growths in a season, but often, also, sends up contend-ing leading shoots. When this is not the case, the terminal shoot of theseason, under favourable circumstances, in a tree 6 ft. high, is from 1 ft. 3 in. to1 ft. 8 in. in a year. The tallest specimen in the immediate neighbourhood 0‘London is in the Horticultural Society’s Garden ; where, in 1837, 10 ye arsfrom the seed, it was 10 ft. high. A plant at Dropmore, of the same age, was,in August, 1837, 19 ft. high, and bearing several cones.

Geography, History, §c. A'bies Douglasii is found in immense forests innorth-west America , from 43° to 52°. N. lat. It was originally discoveredby Mr. Menzies, at Nootka Sound , when he touched at that coast during w svoyage round the world with Captain Vancouver, in 1797 ; and, from a spew-men without flowers or cones, a figure was published by Mr. Lambert, untl®