BLACK SPRUCE (Picea Mariana, B. S. & P.). 20 to 5U 

 feet; rarely to 100 feet. Pyramidal evergreen, with drooping 

 branches that curve upward. Bark brownish gray, thin, 

 scaly. Twigs downy, wood yellow, soft, weak, used for wood 

 pulp and fuel. Leaves blue-green, 4-sided, stiff, sharp, curved, 

 with pale bloom above, \ to f of an inch long; single 

 in close, spiral around twig. Flowers staminate in globular 

 ccne-like spikes, lateral, solitary; pistillate oblong, cone-like, 

 with broad, notched, purple scales. Fruits brown, thin-scaled, 

 persistent, solitary, pendant cones, \ to l inches long; seeds 

 winged. Dist.: Northern Canada to Alaska; south to Vir- 

 ginia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Sap yields spruce gum 

 and spruce beer. 



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