THE SPKUCE. 



THE Spruce, which is indigenous in New England, com- 

 prehends the White and the Black Spruce and the Hem- 

 lock. The etymology of this word is worthy of notice. 

 Evelyn says, " For masts (speaking of firs), those from 

 Prussia, which we call Spruce, and Norway are the best." 

 The word seems to be a corruption of " Pruse, " meaning 

 Prussian. I have formerly thought that the name was 

 applied to this tree to distinguish it from others of the 

 same family which display less of this formal symmetry ; 

 but the fir proper is certainly more spruce in its shape 

 than the more flowing Spruce Fir. 



THE WHITE SPRUCE. 



The White Spruce is less common as an ornamental 

 tree than the Norway spruce, which is preferred as more 

 rapid growing and stately. But the points of differ- 

 ence seem to me very much in favor of the White 

 Spruce. We may distinguish them by the following 

 marks. The White Spruce is not so tall as the European 

 tree, and its cones are very much smaller, though both 

 are pendent. But what is most remarkable is their 

 different mode of branching. The principal branches 

 of each are given out at right angles, with this ap- 

 parent difference only, that the whorls are more widely 

 separated in the Norway spruce, the distance seeming to 

 be proportional to the comparative length or height of the 

 trees. The leaves of the Norway spruce grow only on the 



