350 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERiE 



This spruce is a native of Colorado, E. Utah, New Mexico 

 and Wyoming, usually growing on the banks of streams or rocky 

 ledges at 6,000-10,000 ft. elevation. It was discovered on Pikes 

 Peak in Colorado in 1862 by Dr. Parry and was shortly after- 

 wards introduced into cultivation. Cuttings were obtained from 

 America in 1877 by Waterer, who planted them in his nursery at 

 Knap Hill. 



Wood soft, weak, close-grained, creamy wliite to pale brown, 

 knotty, the best qualities finishing with a satiny surface ; about 

 equal to P. alba in quality. Used locally, but of little commercial 

 importance, and said to be the least useful of the American 

 spruces. 



P. pungens is grown in Britain for decorative purposes, but is 

 often disappointing. The blue or glaucous-leaved forms are very 

 popular and are strikingly handsome when young, but they are 

 difficult plants to keep in health and many lose their colour and 

 fail after attaining the height of 6-12 feet. Even young plants 

 2-4 ft. high in nurseries sometimes go wrong and suddenly lose 

 their leaves when in aj^parently good health. This premature 

 leaf-faU is often due to the presence of Aphis abietina ; but, being 

 an alpine tree, it also probably misses the long winter's rest to 

 which it is accustomed in a natural state, and becomes enfeebled 

 by our milder and more enervating chmate. Although P. 

 pungens is constantly planted at low elevations throughout the 

 country, it appears to be better adapted to high ground and may 

 be expected to be a more satisfactory tree in mountainous 

 districts than in the low country of S. England. From a batch 

 of seedlings it is usually possible to select both green and glaucous- 

 leaved forms. The most distinct varieties are obtained by 

 grafting, but var. glauca can be raised from seeds. 



Sudworth, The Spruce and Balsam Fir Trees of the Rocky Mountain Region, 

 14-17 (1916). 



Picea rubra, Link. 

 Red Spruce. 



Picea nigra, var. rubra, Engelmann ; P. rubens, Sargent ; Abies nigra, 

 var. rubra, Michaux ; A. rubra, Poiret ; A. rubra, var. arctica, Lindley and 

 Gordon ; Pinus americana, Gaertner. 



Black Spruce ; Blue Spruce ; Double Spruce ; He Balsam ; Spruce 

 Pine. 



A tree attaining in N. America a height of 70-80 ft. and a 

 girth of 6-9 ft. Bark of trunk reddish brown and scaly. Branches 

 slender, spreading, often covering the trunk to the base and 

 forming a tree of conical habit. Young shoots reddish brown, 

 very hairy. Buds ovoid-conic, more or less concealed by the 

 upper leaves, with long awl-shaped points to the outer scales. 

 Leaves crowded, mostly on the upper side of the shoot, yellowish 

 or grass-green, more or less incurved and twisted, l-^ in. long. 



