Abies is widely distributed in the New World from Labrador and the valley of the Athabasca River to the mountains of North Carolina, and from Alaska through the Pacific and Rocky Mountain regions to the highlands of Guatemala, and in the Old World from Siberia and the mountains of central Europe to southern Japan, central China, Formosa, the Himalayas, Asia Minor, and the highlands of northern Africa. Thirty-three species are now recognized. Several exotic species are cultivated in the northern and eastern states; of these the best known and most successful as ornamental trees are _Abies Nordmanniana_, Spach, of the Caucasus, _Abies cilicica_ Carr., of Asia Minor, _Abies cephalonica_ Loud., a native of Cephalonia, _Abies Veitchii_ Lindl., and _Abies homolepis_ S. & Z., of Japan, and _Abies pinsapo_, Boiss., of the Spanish Sierra Nevada. _Abies_ is the classical name of the Fir-tree. CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES. Winter-buds subglobose, with closely imbricated scales. Leaves flat and grooved above, with stomata on the lower surface (in Nos. 3 and 5, also on the upper surface), rounded and often notched, or on fertile branches frequently acute at apex. Leaves on sterile branches spreading, not crowded. Cones purple. Leaves dark green and lustrous above, pale below. Bracts of the cone-scales much longer than their scales, reflexed. 1. A. Fraseri (A). Bracts of the cone-scales shorter or rarely slightly longer than their scales. 2. A. balsamea (A). Leaves pale blue-green, stomatose above. 3. A. lasiocarpa (B, F, G). Cones green (green, yellow, and purple in No. 5). Leaves dark green and lustrous above, pale below. 4. A. grandis (B, G). Leaves pale blue or glaucous, often stomatose above on the upper surface. 5. A. concolor (F, G, H). Leaves on sterile branches pointing forward, densely crowded, dark green and lustrous above, pale below. 6. A. amabilis (B, G). Leaves often 4-sided, with stomata on all surfaces, blue-green, usually glaucous, bluntly pointed or acute, incurved and crowded on fertile branches; cones purple. Leaves of sterile branches flattened and distinctly grooved above; bracts of the cone-scales rounded and fimbriate above, long-pointed, incurved, light green, much longer than and covering their scales. 7. A. nobilis (G). Leaves of sterile branches 4-sided; bracts of the cone-scales