MASSACHUSETTS FOREST TREES 



BLACK SPRUCE (Picea mariana B. S. P.) 



THE Black Spruce is a small and rather unimportant 

 tree which is of frequent occurrence in the northern 

 and western sections of the State. Usually it grows in 

 swamps and on the borders of streams, though some- 

 times on uplands. 



In habit it is a conical tree with a height of twenty 

 to thirty feet and a diameter of six to twelve inches. 

 The branches are short, horizontal or slightly declin- 

 ing and tend to turn upwards at the extremities, some- 

 what after the manner of the Norway Spruce. 



The bark on the trunk is grayish-brown and broken 

 into three scales. 



The leaves are about one-half inch long and blue- 

 green in color. 



The cones are egg-shaped, one-half to one and one- 

 half inches in length and grayish-brown in color. They 

 usually remain on the trees for several years and often 

 persist for as many as twenty years. 



The wood is light, soft and weak. It is seldom used 

 here except for making paper pulp. 



Black and Red Spruce have, until recently, been con- 

 sidered the same species, but under the new classifica- 

 tion the Black Spruce now becomes a far less valuable 

 tree, commercially, than the Red. 



