36 Bulletin 194 



THE SPRUCES 



Every Vermonter should know and appreciate the spruces for the 

 mountain spruce and the sugar maple are our most characteristic trees. 

 The forests of North America contain seven species of spruce, three of 

 which occur in Vermont.^ 



The spruces are northern trees, and Vermont lies rather south of 

 the belt of their most abundant growth in northeastern America. It is 

 therefore our mountain sides and cool swamps which furnish conditions 

 suitable for their best development. 



The flowering cones are similar to those of the pine in general 

 characters. The flowers appear in spring and the cones mature the 

 following autumn, the seeds being shed during autumn or early winter. 



Until recently botanists considered the two species here described 

 as the red spruce and the black spruce to be simply varieties of one 

 species, to which was given the common name of black spruce. In the 

 lumber trade all three kinds are handled, without discrimination, as 

 "spruce." As a matter of fact, the red spruce furnishes nearly all of 

 the spruce lumber cut in Vermont. Spruce gum also comes chiefly 

 from the red spruce, although it is formed by the other species. 



^Introduced species. — The Norway spruce (Picea abies) is commonly cultivated 

 in Vermont dooryards, parks and cemeteries, and is superior to our native trees for 

 such purposes. It is recognized easily by its more pendulous branches and very 

 large slender cones, five to seven inches long. 



The Colorado blue spruce (P. pungens) is occasionally planted. This is char- 

 acterized by its beautiful glaucous-blue foliage. The cones are three to Ave inches 

 long. 



