Postelsia 169 
lock and white cedar are also sometimes 
similarly dwarfed, but less frequently and less 
perfectly than the spruce. 
* This spruce is readily distinguished from the 
other forest trees of the region by its bark, its 
foliage and its cones. The moderately thin bark 
varies from grey-brown to bright red-brown in 
color. That of young trees is moderately 
smooth, reddish-brown, and sometimes shows 
resin vesicles like those of balsam firs. The sur- 
face of the bark becomes cracked in older trees 
and drops off in the form of scales which leave 
shallow, concave scars. The bark does not be- 
come deeply furrowed nor shredded. The lead- 
ing shoot of a young tideland spruce is very 
stiffly erect and fast growing. The twigs of the 
lateral branches are usually somewhat drooping. 
The leaves may be somewhat two-ranked, or 
may project equally in all directions about the 
stem. They are generally slightly twisted so as 
to bring the dark green lower side upwards to- 
wards the light. The leaves differ greatly in 
form and size even on the same tree, being some- 
times narrow and sharply acuminate and some- 
