Part 17

NOTES.--Grows to a height of 120-150 feet in northern Europe and Asia. Perfectly hardy in Michigan. Easily transplanted. Adapts itself to a variety of soils and climates. Grows rapidly, but is short-lived in our country. Desirable for ornamental planting. Useful for shelter belts.

1. Winter branchlet, × 1. 2-3. Leaves, × 2. 4. Cross-section of leaf, enlarged. 5. Unopened cone, × 1. 6. Cone-scale with seeds, × 1.]

+PINACEAE+

+Balsam Fir+

Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.

HABIT.--A slender tree 40-60 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 12-18 inches; branches in whorls of 4-6, forming a symmetrical, open crown widest at the base and tapering regularly upward.

LEAVES.--Scattered, spirally arranged in rows, on young trees extending from all sides of the branch, on old trees covering the upper side of the branch; narrowly linear, with apex acute or rounded; 1/2-1-1/4 inches long; lustrous, dark green above, pale beneath; sessile; aromatic. Persistent 8-10 years.

FLOWERS.--May; monoecious; the staminate oblong-cylindrical, yellow, 1/4 inch long, composed of yellow anthers (subtended by scales) spirally arranged upon a central axis; the pistillate oblong-cylindrical, 1 inch long, composed of orbicular, purple scales (subtended by yellow-green bracts) spirally arranged upon a central axis.

FRUIT.--Autumn of first season; oblong-cylindrical, erect, puberulous, dark purple cones, 2-4 inches long, about 1 inch thick; seeds 1/4 inch long, shorter than their light brown wings.

WINTER-BUDS.--Globose, orange-green, resinous, 1/8-1/4 inch in diameter.

BARK.--Twigs at first grayish and pubescent, becoming gray-brown and smooth; thin and smooth on young trunks, pale gray-brown and marked by swollen resin chambers; red-brown on old trunks and somewhat roughened by small, scaly plates.

WOOD.--Very light, soft, weak, coarse-grained, perishable, pale brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Occasional in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula, frequent in the northern half; abundant in the Upper Peninsula.

HABITAT.--Prefers cool, moist, rich soil; low, swampy ground; well-drained hillsides.

NOTES.--Grows rapidly. Short-lived. Easily transplanted.

1. Fruiting branch viewed from beneath, × 1/2. 2. Leaf, × 3. 3. Cross-section of leaf, enlarged. 4. Branchlet with partly opened cone, × 1. 5. Cone-scale with seeds, × 3.]

+PINACEAE+

+Hemlock+

Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.

HABIT.--A large tree 60-80 feet high, with a trunk 2-4 feet in diameter; forming a rather broad, open, somewhat irregular-pyramidal crown of slender, horizontal branches.

LEAVES.--Spirally arranged around the branch, but appearing 2-ranked by the twisting of their petioles; linear, flat, rounded at the apex; about 1/2 inch long; dark yellow-green and shining above, hoary beneath; short-petioled. Persistent about 3 years.

FLOWERS.--April-May; monoecious; the staminate axillary, short-stalked, light yellow, about 3/8 inch long, composed of subglobose clusters of stamens; the pistillate terminal, oblong, pale green, 1/8 inch long, the scales short, pinkish.

FRUIT.--Autumn of first season, gradually losing their seeds during the winter and falling the next spring; oblong-ovoid, acute, short-stalked, red-brown cones, about 3/4 inch long; seeds 1/8 inch long, with wings about twice as long.

WINTER-BUDS.--Ovoid, obtuse, red-brown, slightly puberulous, 1/16 inch long.

BARK.--Twigs at first pale brown and pubescent, becoming glabrous, gray-brown; thick, red-brown or gray on the trunk, deeply divided into narrow, rounded, scaly ridges.

WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, brittle, coarse- and crooked-grained, not durable, ill-smelling, light red-brown, with thin, darker colored sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Throughout the state, with the exception of the south-eastern portion; scarce on the east side of the state, more common on the west, becoming very abundant in Emmet County.

HABITAT.--Prefers well-drained uplands and slopes of ravines.