PHYTOLACCA 



PICEA 



2615 



making a good shade. In a recent freeze, it is reported 

 that trees have lost their Ivs. but the growth remained 

 uninjured. L. H. B.f 



PIARAUTHTJS in part: Caralluma. 



PICEA (ancient Latin name derived from pix, pitch). 

 Pinaceae. SPRUCE. Ornamental trees, grown for their 

 evergreen foliage and regular pyramidal habit; many 

 species are valuable timber trees. 



Evergreen trees with usually whorled spreading 

 branches : Ivs. usually 4-angled with white lines formed 

 by numerous stomata arranged in rows and on all 4 

 sides, or compressed and stomatiferous only on the 

 upper or ventral side which, on the lateral branchlets, 

 by twisting of the If.-stalk appears to be the lower one, 

 sessile and jointed at the base to a short stalk projected 

 from a prominent cushion called a pulvinus: fls. monoe- 

 cious, catkin-like, terminal or axillary; the staminate 

 yellow or red, consisting of numerous spirally arranged 

 anthers with the connective enlarged at the apex and 

 scale-like; the pistillate greenish or purple, consisting 

 of spirally arranged scales each subtended at the base 

 by a small bract and bearing 2 ovules at the inner 'side: 

 cones pendulous or spreading, with persistent scales 

 not separating from the axis after shedding the seeds, 

 which are provided with a large and thin obovate or 

 oblong wing. Thirty-eight species in the colder and 

 temperate climates of the northern hemisphere from 

 the arctic circle to the high mountains of the temperate 

 regions. They are all mentioned below and all of them 

 except 4 are in cult. The names Picea and Abies are 

 often exactly transposed by horticulturists and others. 



The spruces are usually tall trees of pyramidal habit, 

 sometimes dwarfed in horticultural varieties or in 

 alpine forms, with spreading usually whorled branches 

 clothed densely with acicular spirally arranged leaves. 

 The catkin-like flowers appear in spring and are often 

 very conspicuous by their bright red color. These are 

 followed by usually pendent cones, green or purple 

 before ripening and light to dark brown at maturity. 

 The spruces are not only highly ornamental, but also 

 very valuable forest trees, and as inhabitants of cooler 

 climates they are especially adapted for cultivation in 

 northern regions. Almost all are hardy North, except 

 P. sitchensis, P. Smithiana and P. spinulosa, but they 

 do not resist heat and drought well; some, however, 

 as P. pungens, P. canadensis, P. Omorika, P. orienialis, 

 P. excdsa. and some of the recently introduced Chinese 

 species grow better in a drier climate than most others. 

 For ornamental park planting the spruces belong to the 

 most valuable evergreens on account of the symmetrical 

 habit and rapid growth of most species. Only a few, 

 like P. oriental**, P. obovata, P. Omorika, and P. polita, 

 are of slower growth and therefore well suited for 

 smaller parks and gardens; and so are the numerous 

 horticultural forms, which are mostly dwarf and slow- 

 growing and sometimes more interesting and curious 

 than beautiful. The spruces are often planted as 

 shelters and windbreaks, and also used for hedges, 

 especially P. excdsa, which makes a very dense and 

 durable hedge when regular!}' trimmed. ~ P. polita is 

 also recommended as a good hedge plant and seems well 

 adapted, with its rigid spiny leaves. The spruces thrive 

 best in moderately moist sandy loam, but will grow in 

 almost any kind of soil provided it contains enough 

 moisture; wet and dry soils are equally unfavorable. 

 Slopes of northern aspect are well suited for spruces, and 

 they thrive better in shady positions than most other 

 conifers. As the roots mostly spread horizontally near 

 the surface, the spruces will grow in shallow soil and 

 are easily transplanted even as rather large plants; 

 they may be moved with success at any time of the 

 year except when the young shoots are growing, but if 

 possible avoid transplanting shortly before dry weather 

 is expected to set in. 



166 



Spruces are propagated by seeds, which ripen in fall 

 and are usually kept dry and cool during the winter 

 and sown in spring outdoors in prepared beds or in 

 frames or boxes. The young seedlings should be shaded 

 and watered in dry weather and may remain a year or 

 two before being transplanted in nursery rows when not 

 sown too thickly. Varieties and rarer kinds are often 

 increased by layers or by grafting on seedling stock of 

 P. excelsa. P. canadensis is used for forms of this species 

 and for P. mariana and P. rubra. Veneer-grafting in 

 spring or August in the greenhouse is usually employed; 

 less commonly cleft-grafting with half-hardened wood. 

 The dwarf forms grow readily from cuttings under 

 glass in August or fall and given slight bottom heat in 

 early spring; also most other forms and species, espe- 

 cially those with thinner and finer branches, can be 

 raised from cuttings. 



The spruces are important timber trees. The soft and 

 light straight-grained wood is much used for construc- 

 tion, the interior finish of houses and for fuel, also for 

 ship-building; but it is not durable in the ground. The 

 bark of some species is used for tanning leather, and 

 the resinous exudations are sometimes employed in 

 medicine. From the red and black spruce, spruce beer 

 is made by boiling the branches with honey. Spruces 

 are often known in nurseries, especially in this country, 

 under the name of Abies. 



The grafting of piceas, (E. P. Drew.) 



In the writer's experience, P. canadensis is a good 

 stock on which to graft the finer varieties of spruce or 

 those having four-sided leaves. 

 Pot the stock the last of August, 

 keep in shaded frame, syringe 

 till danger of wilting is over and 

 harden gradually. Be careful 

 not to keep the earth in the pots 

 too wet, as roots are liable to rot. 

 Place the stocks in greenhouse 

 after light frosts, and graft as 

 soon as roots have started 

 about last of January generally. 

 Do not wait until buds have 

 made much growth, for then the 

 sap will be running strongly to 

 the upper buds, leaving the cion 

 to remain dormant. When stock 

 and cion are of same size, the 

 veneer-graft may be used. In 

 large stocks, use slit- or side- 

 graft. Be sure that the knife is 

 sharp enough to shave dry wood. 

 Cut the cion in elongated wedge- 

 shape; place it in the cleft by 

 twisting the stock with left hand, 

 fitting the cion exactly with the 

 right. Be careful to wax well, as a 

 hole the size of a pin left on the cut surface will be fatal 

 to the cion. Place the grafted plants in a close frame 

 until the cion is well started. Syringe from two to three 

 times a day, shading when too hot. Give air gradually 

 until well hardened. Do not cut back the stock for one 

 year, as the cion may make second growth and winter- 

 kill. If cion should die, do not use the stock again 

 until after a year's rest, as two consecutive pottings 

 will usually ruin the plant; this holds good only with 

 Tsuga and P. canadensis. The above method can be 

 used with equal success on Pinus, Abies, Juniperus, and 

 other evergreens propagated by grafting. 



Ornamental value of spruces. (Thomas H. Douglas.) 



The piceas embrace some of the most useful as well 

 as ornamental trees of the conifer family. They cover 

 a great variety of forms, from the stiff -branched sturdy 

 and rugged P. pungens to the lithe graceful and droop- 

 ing P. Breweriana. The American species comprise 



2940. Cone of Norway 

 spruce. Picea ezcelsa. 

 (XH) 



