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long, with similarly coloured obovate-cuneate wings, which in cultivated specimens are considerably longer than the body of the seed.

This tree can only be confused with A. magnifica, which has a different habit. The difference between these two trees in the shape and disposition of the leaves is given in the Key, p. 718. (A.H.)

According to Sargent, this species forms extensive forests on the Cascade Mountains in Washington, extending southwards to the valley of the Mackenzie River, Oregon. It also occurs on the coast ranges of Washington, and the Siskiyou Mountains of California. It is most abundant on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains, and ranges from 2500 to 5000 feet above sea level, attaining its largest size at 3000 to 4000 feet. It is less abundant and of smaller size on the northern and eastern slopes of these mountains. It commonly attains 200 feet in height ; and often grows to 250 feet; Sheldon says, even to 300 feet.

In the Cascade Range Forest Reserve’ the noble fir forms about 6 per cent of the total, and is an important element in the mixed forests of the middle zone on the western slope, where it often comprises 15 or 20 per cent of the forest. It crosses the summit in lat. 45° where a moist climate prevails, but cannot compete with pine and larch in the drier areas. It is closely associated with the lovely fir, and among lumbermen both species are called larch. Some individuals attain as much as 8 feet in diameter, but the average size is about 150 feet high by 12 feet in girth at the base. Langille states® that this tree cannot hold its' own against the lovely fir (A. amabilis) and hemlock, which are superseding it, and that a sapling is seldom seen. A tree growing at 6000 feet elevation was 163 years old and 125 feet in height, with a diameter of 4 feet 5 inches at the base.

In the forests of Mt. Rainier in Washington, Plummer says that the noble fir is the finest timber tree and is found from 1800 to 5200 feet. The largest that he measured was 225 feet by 18 feet. But when I ascended this mountain from Longmire’s Springs I did not see it, or perhaps I did not distinguish it in the absence of cones from Abies amabilis. In the watershed of the Washougal and Rock Creek rivers, however, which are very heavily timbered, it forms, according to Plummer, 25 per cent of the timber. The cones here measure about 4½ inches long by 2½ inches wide, not so large as some I have seen in England.

I saw this tree at its best in the Cascade Mountains above Bridal Veil in northern Oregon in June 1904. In this district the tree is known to the lumber- men as larch, and grows in thick forest, more or less mixed with Douglas fir and hemlock ; with Acer circinatum and other shrubs as underwood, where there is light enough for any to exist. The largest trees I saw here were above 200 feet in height, and were clear of branches for at least two-thirds of their height, as in the illustration, which was taken from a tree at this place which measured 210 feet by 13

1 Forest Conditions of the Cascade Range Forest Reserve, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, 1903.

2 Ibid. p. 35.