Abies mariesii Mast.

A tree 40 to 50, occasionally 80 ft high, of compact, pyramidal form; young shoots very densely covered with red-brown down, which persists several years; buds small, globose, completely encased in resin. Leaves 1⁄3 to 1 in. long, 1⁄12 in. wide; dark shining green and deeply grooved above; glaucous beneath, with two broad bands of stomata; apex rounded and notched. The lower ranks spread horizontally, whilst the upper and shorter ones point forward and completely hide the shoot. Cones 3 to 4 in. long, about 2 in. wide, rounded at the top, egg-shaped, purple when young; bracts hidden. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 45.

Native of Japan; introduced by Charles Maries from Mt Hakkoda in 1878, but the oldest plants in cultivation are from another source, perhaps the German nursery firm of Hesse. It is a handsome fir, with shining foliage, but slow-growing and very rare in cultivation. The best specimens known are: Dawyck, Peebl., pl. 1910, 55 × 5 ft (1966); Leonardslee, Sussex, 58 × 3 ft (1961); Grayswood Hill, Surrey, 55 × 31⁄2 ft (1964).

It has been confused with A. veitchii and with the American A. amabilis, while the fir illustrated in Bot. Mag., t. 8098, is not A. mariesii but A. spectabilis.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: Grayswood Hill, Surrey, 58 × 41⁄4 ft (1983); Leonardslee, Sussex, in Hill Wood, 70 × 33⁄4 ft (1977) and, in Cornish Garden, 72 × 31⁄2 ft (1979); National Pinetum, Bedgebury, Kent, pl. 1925, 59 × 4 ft (1978); Endsleigh, Devon, 64 × 41⁄4 ft (1977); Dawyck, Peebl., pl. 1910, 75 × 6 ft (1982); Altyre, Moray, 46 × 3 ft (1980).