THE GTMNOSPERM TREES 



263 



ciated with Douglas fir and various pines. Both of these larches 

 yield hard, durable woods. 



The Spruces 



The SPRUCES {Picea) are characterized by solitary, short, 

 needle shaped leaves, arranged in spirals on the branches (fig. 

 184). They are sharp pointed, four 

 sided in cross section, and are 

 placed upon prominent woody 

 projections of the stem, which per- 

 sist after the leaves have fallen 

 making the leafless branches very 

 rough. The cones have thin woody 

 scales, and hang from the branches. 



There are seven species of 

 spruce native to the United States 

 and six of these are of some com- 

 mercial importance. The red, black, 

 and white spruces are found in the 

 northeastern United States, the 

 last two extending northward to 

 the limit of tree growth in the Arctic, and westward across 

 Canada to the Pacific Ocean. 



The RED SPRUCE and white spruce are of great economic 

 importance as producers of pulpwood in spite of their medium 

 size — sixty to eighty feet high by one to two feet in diameter. Red 

 spruce formerly contributed most of the nation's supply of Christ- 

 mas trees, and today is still widely used in this capacity in New 

 England. Its inability to hold the leaves when cut and taken 

 indoors is responsible for the drop in its popularity as a Christmas 

 tree. Black spruce, due to its small size, which is about one-half 

 that of the preceding two species, is of only slight commercial 

 importance as a pulpwood. It is characteristic of bogs and poorly 

 drained areas, while the two larger species are found in greatest 

 abundance on better drained lands. 



Of the three western spruces, two, the Engelmann spruce 

 and the Colorado blue spruce, are typically mountain trees, 

 the latter sparingly distributed in the central Rocky Mountain 



Fig. 184. — Spruces have soli- 

 tary needle-shaped leaves ar- 

 ranged spirally along the stems. 



