428 PICEA ALBA. 



Picea alba, Link in Linnsea, XV. 519 (1841). Carriers, Traite Conif. ed. II. 

 319 (1867). Van Houtte, Flore des Serres, XXI. 157, t. 2251. Engelmann in 

 Gard. Chron. XI. (1879) p. 334. Sargent, Forest Trees N. Amer. 10th Census, 

 U.S.A. IX 204. Macoun. Cat Canad. Plants, 469. Beissner, Nadelholzk. 340, 

 with fig. Masters in Journ. R. Hort. Soc. XIV. 220. 



P. canadensis. Sargent, Silva N. Amer. XII. 37, t. 598 (1898). 



Abies alba. Michaux, Hist. Arb. Amer. I. 133, t. 12 (1810). Loudon, Arb. et Frut. 

 Brit. IV. 2310, with figs. Forbes, Pinet Woburn, 95, t. 33. Nuttall, Sylva, III. 129. 

 Hoopes, Evergreens, 157, with fig. Gordon, Pinet. ed. II. 3. 



A. canadensis, Miller, Diet. ed. VIII. (1768).* 



Pinus alba, Lambert, Genus Pinus, I. t. 26 (1803). Endlicher, Synops. Conif. 112. 

 Parlatore, D. C. Prodr. XVI. 414. 



Eng. and Amer. White Spruce. Fr. Sapinette blanche. Germ Weissfichte. 

 Ital. Abete bianco. 



The geographical distribution of Picea alba extends over the whole 

 of British North America as far as the northern limit of arborescent 

 vegetation; it also spreads through Alaska to Behrings Strait. South 

 of the Dominion boundary it extends along the Atlantic coast of 

 Maine, where it is constantly bathed in the spray of the ocean ; 

 also into the northern parts of the New England States; and 

 westward it fringes the international boundary from northern 

 Michigan to northern Montana. Throughout this enormous area it 

 inhabits chiefly the alluvial soil on the banks of streams where it 

 attains its greatest size and affords the best timber- of the region. 

 It is the most valuable tree in Newfoundland, in the inhospitable 

 countries around Hudson's Bay, in the Yukon valley, and in the 

 Klondyke around Dawsoii City. The wood is light, soft and 

 straight-grained, with a satiny surface but not strong. The long 

 tough flexible roots are used by the Indians of the north to fasten 

 together the sheets of birch-bark of which they make their canoes, 

 and to weave water-tight baskets, etc.f 



According to Aiton, the White Spruce was introduced into Great 

 Britain a little earlier than the year 1700, at which date it was in 

 cultivation in Bishop Comptoii's garden at Fulham. It was formerly 

 much more extensively planted than at present, when it had fewer 

 competitors for favour among the Coniferse ; in the milder climate of 

 this country it is comparatively short-lived, and soon loses the ornamental 

 properties which render it so attractive an object in the rigorous 

 climate of Canada and the north-west 'provinces of the Dominion. It 

 is, however, still propagated in nursery gardens, and- may occasionally 

 be seen in road-side and other plantation belts associated with the 

 commoner Conifers. The common form being of such little value as 

 an ornamental tree, not much can be expected from any of the 

 varieties, of which Beissner describes ten ; | of these the best is doubtless 

 that named ccerulea, the Blue Spruce of our predecessors, of which a 

 good specimen 45 feet high is growing in a light loam at Dolphintoii 

 in Lanarkshire. 



* This is the oldest published name of the White Spruce ; left in abeyance or unnoticed 

 by most subsequent authors, it has recently been revived by American botanists. 



t Silva of North America, XII. 40. 



Nadelholzkunde, 350. The "White Spruce is better adapted to the climate of Germany 

 than of Great Britain. The late Malcolm Dunn in lit. 



