Identification
The short broad leaves, which have usually four to six broken lines of stomata on their upper surface near the apex in the middle line, are a good mark of this species. On strong shoots the backward direction of the median leaves, which densely cover the upper side of the branchlet, is also very characteristic.
Distribution
Abies numidica is very restricted in its distribution, being, so far as is known, confined to a small area towards the summit of the northern slope of Mount Babor, in the Kabylie range in Algeria. It grows between 5000 and 6600 feet altitude in a climate where snow lies upon the ground from December to April. In January, 1907, I visited Kerrata, at the head of the famous gorge of Chaba-el-Akra; and found that the ascent of the mountain, only a few miles distant, was impracticable. M. Bernard, Inspector of Forests at Bougie, who has charge of the forest of Mt. Babor, informed me that the northern slope contains an area of 4000 acres, and is clothed with a dense forest, composed mainly of cedar and Quercus Mirbeckii in the upper zone between 4700 and 6600 feet, and of Q. Mirbeckii, Q. castaneæfolia, and Acer obtusatum, in the lower zone below 4700 feet. The total number of trees of Abies numidica scarcely exceeds 3000; and they only grow towards the summit, where they occur scattered amongst the cedars and oaks. None of the trees are more than 7o feet high, and the largest is only 8 feet in girth. The small size is due to their exposed position, and possibly to the destruction of larger trees by the natives in former times. Seedlings are rare ; and according to M. Bernard, this is accounted for by the poor germinating quality of the seed, as only 4 to 15 per cent of it produced plants with him. The soil on which the tree grows is limestone, its surface being composed of stones and pebbles, underneath which there is a considerable mixture of mould.!
Abies marocana, Trabut,’ discovered in January 1906 by M. Joly, in the mountains south of Tetuan, in Morocco, is intermediate in the characters of the foliage between A. numidica and A. Pinsapo. M. Trabut showed me a branchlet, when I was in Algiers in 1907; but in the absence of cones, it is impossible to decide whether it deserves to rank as a new species. Seeds of this should be
readily procurable ; and the attention of travellers is directed to the possibility of introducing a new silver fir. (A.H.)
History and Cultivation
The Algerian fir was discovered in 1861 by Captain de Guibert. The first seeds were sent to France in 1862 by M. Davout, a forest officer; and another supply and six young plants were forwarded in 1864 by M. de Lannoy.
1 M. Maurice de Vilmorin, in Arbres Forestiers Etrangers, 33 (1900) gives an account of Abies numidica on Mount
Babor. He noticed that many of the trees had short stout trunks, free of branches to 10 or 12 feet, occasionally more or less
twisted, and often dividing into several stems.
2 In Bull. Soc. Bot. France, liii. 154, t. 3 (1906). In the plate, the name Picea marocana, Trabut, appears by mistake.
