288 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



the scales are very thin at the tip, somewhat square- 

 pointed, and often eroded at the edge. The lower 

 branches of tall trees which grow in the open droop 

 very gracefully. 



The black spruce is found in cold and damp 

 woods from New England to Pennsylvania, central 

 Michigan, and Minnesota; southward it follows the 

 Alleghany Mountains to North Carolina. The wood 

 is yellowish white, tough, and clear of all but small 

 and rather ornamental-looking knots ; it is largely 

 used in construction and interior finish. 

 White Spruce. The white spruce differs from the 



Picea alba. . . . . . . mi ,, 



Picea Canadensis, black in these particulars : lhe needle 

 is slenderer and is sometimes longer, 

 the little twigs are lighter colored (de- 

 cidedly buff), and the cone is slender, 

 longer, light green when very young, 

 and light tan color when older. The 

 cones of this spruce are often two inches 

 long, and papery -soft under pressure of 

 the fingers; they drop off at the end 

 of the year. My drawing shows the 

 cone in three stages of its development : 

 notice that the edges of the scales are 

 clean cut, not jagged. The needles are 

 usually a trifle curved, and on being 



white spruce, bruised emit a rather disagreeable, pun- 



