The Spruces 29 



Young trees have a beautiful, regular, and symmetrical outline but on old trees 

 the slender, drooping branches, with upturned ends, form a narrow, open, irregular, 

 and unsightly crown. 



The bark is thin, greyish-brown, and scaly. The inner bark has a reddish 

 tinge. The end twigs are slightly coated with rusty-coloured hair. 



The leaves are 34 to 54 in. long and without stalks. They are blunt-pointed 

 and four-angled in cross-section. Their colour is bluish-green. 



The cones are H to IJ^ in. long, and spherical in shape when open. 

 The scales are stiff and will break if crushed. The scales are toothed on the margin, 

 while those of the white spruce and red spruce are not. The stem of the cones is 

 slightly curved and the cones are bent forward. Cones are not confined to the 

 upper portion of the tree as with the red and white spruces. They remain on the 

 trees several years after the seed has been shed. 



This tree ranges right across the continent from Labrador and the Maritime 

 Provinces to Alaska and the mouth of the Mackenzie river. It is one of the most 

 northerly-growing trees. In the East it is confined for the most part to swamps 

 and undrained places. In the North it is found in well-drained valleys and oil 

 stony slopes. It reaches its best development in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. 

 It is associated chiefly with tamarack and aspen. 



Owing to the comparatively small size attained by this tree, its wood is of less 

 value, commercially, than that of either the white spruce or red spruce. As a rule 

 its slower growth produces stronger and more durable wood of finer grain, and on 

 this account it is preferred to the other species for mining timbers, ties, and cooper- 

 age. It is usually mixed with the other two eastern species when sawn into lumber 

 or sold as pulpwood. 



PICEA RUBRA (Du Roi) Dietr.* RED SPRUCE 



Common names: Red spruce, yellow spruce. 

 French name: Epinette rouge. 



The red spruce is a tree 50 to 75 ft. high and 1 to 2 ft. in diameter. The 

 trunk is very straight but, unless grown in a dense stand, very branchy. The 

 crown is conical and narrow. The branches extend out at right angles to the trunk, 

 the lower ones drooping slightly. The new twigs are reddish-brown and slightly 

 hairy. The root-system is shallow and spreading, and the tree is, therefore, fre- 

 quently overthrown by winds. 



The bark is extremely thin and easily damaged by fire. It is reddish-brown in 

 colour, covered with tight scales of irregular shape. 



The leaves are }/2 in. long, four-sided and pointed. They are straight or curved 

 and, like all spruces, are without stalks. Their colour is yellowish-green. 



The cones are 134 to 2 in. long, oval, and oblong. They are stiff and very 

 harsh to the touch when dry. They do not remain hanging on the tree as with the 

 black spruce, but drop off during the first winter. 



The range of this tree in Canada is not wide. It is confined to Nova Scotia, 

 New Brunswick, and the eastern part of Quebec. It grows on a variety of soils 



