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74 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland
interior finish of houses, and in boat-building, as well as for shingles, pumps, and
wooden ware.
The only timber I know which it resembles closely in colour, texture, and grain,
is that of Magnolia acuminata?
Neither Stevenson, Hough, nor Stone, however, speak of a form of this timber
known as " blistered poplar," which is occasionally found, as I believe, only in old
trees, and which is sometimes imported in small quantities to Europe. This seems
akin to the figured maple wood known as bird's eye maple, but has the figure in
oblong patches from 2 inches long downwards, of a dark olive colour on a paler
olive-green ground, and is one of the most ornamental woods I know, fit to be used
in the finest cabinet work. I saw large planks of this variety in the Exhibition at
St. Louis, and have had some of it worked into the panels of a screen.
The wood of the tulip tree grown in England seems to be nearly as good in
quality as the imported timber, though not quite so pure in colour. From a tree
which was cut at Highclere a plank was sent me by the kindness of the Earl of
Carnarvon, which has been used in the same screen, and I have a large book-case of
which the back is made of the imported wood, selected by an experienced cabinet
maker as best for the purpose.
Mouillefert says that in Paris its use is increasing for all purposes for which the
wood of the lime and poplar is suitable, and that it has when fresh cut a pleasant
smell of orange, which, however, is soon lost as it dries. (H. J. E.)
1 Mr. Weale tells me that the timber of this Magnolia, as well as that of M. grandiflora and M. glauca, come into the
Liverpool market mixed with that of the tulip tree, and that though the two former may easily be distinguished by a person
who knows them well, yet that M. glauca can only be identified with a lens, and that in consequence of this mixture, opinions
differ .is to the suitability of the wood for laying veneers upon. He thinks that if bone dry, the wood of the tulip tree is fit
for this purpose, but not equal to that of American chestnut, American cherry, or Honduras mahogany, of which the latter is
best. He also says that for pattern making Quebec yellow pine is distinctly superior, and worth from is. to 2s. a foot more.
PICEA
SPRUCE-FIRS
Picea, Link, AMiandl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1 827, 179 (1830); Bcntham et Hooker, Gen. PI. iii. 439
(1880); Masters, Jour. Linn. Soc. (JBot.) xxx. 2 8 (1893).
Abies, LinnEeus, Gen. PL 2 94 (in part) (1737); D. Don in Lambert, Pinus, vol. iii. (1837), ex
Loudon, Arb. et Frut. iv. 2293 (1838).
THIS genus includes the spruce-firs, which in England, following the practice of
Don and Loudon, are still often called Abies. However, all botanists in England,
on the Continent, and in America apply the term Picea to the spruces, and Abies to
the silver firs.
Tall evergreen trees belonging to the tribe Abietinese of the order Coniferse,
with shoots of only one kind, bearing in spiral order peg-like projections ("pulvini"),
from which the leaves arise singly. The needle-like leaves are either tetragonal or
flattened in section, and persist for many years, rendering the foliage very dense.
At the ends of the leading shoots there is a terminal bud, with 2-5 side buds directly
under it; the buds are dry and not resinous.
Flowers monoecious. Male flowers solitary in the axils of the uppermost leaves,
ovoid or cylindric, short-stalked, surrounded at the base with scale-like bracts, com
posed of numerous stamens spirally arranged, each with 2 pollen-sacs opening longi
tudinally, and a connective prolonged into a toothed crest. Pollen grains with 2
air-sacs. Female flowers solitary, terminal, erect, stalked, with a few empty scales
at the base; composed of 2 series of scales, the bracts small and membranous, and
the ovular scales bearing at their base 2 inverted ovules. Cones: generally
becoming pendulous, but in certain species remaining erect or spreading; cylindrical
or ovoid, with the bracts minute and concealed, and the scales enlarged and firm in
texture, with entire or denticulate margins, and bearing on their inner surface 2
winged seeds. The cones are ripe in the first season, and after dispersal of the seed
(the scales persisting on the axis) fall off in the following winter, or remain in some
species much longer on the tree. The cotyledons are 5-15 in number, 3-sided, and
serrate in margin.
Species of spruce occur in Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Siberia, Mongolia,
China, Japan, the Himalayas, and in North America. The genus is marked out into
two natural sections by the character of the leaves. These are defined by Willkomm
as follows :
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