288 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



the scales are very thin at the tip, somewhat square- 

 pointed, and often eroded at the edge. The lower 

 branches of tall trees which grow in the open droop 

 very gracefully. 



The black spruce is found in cold and damp 

 woods from New England to Pennsylvania, central 

 Michigan, and Minnesota; southward it follows the 

 Alleghany Mountains to North Carolina. The wood 

 is yellowish white, tough, and clear of all but small 

 and rather ornamental-looking knots ; it is largely 

 used in construction and interior finish. 

 White Spruce. The white spruce differs from the 

 Picea alba. black in the following particulars : 

 The needle is slenderer and is sometimes 

 longer, the little twigs are lighter col- 

 ored (decidedly buff), and the cone is 

 slender, longer, light green when very 

 young, and light tan color when older. 

 The cones of this spruce are often two 

 inches long, and papery -soft under pres- 

 sure of the fingers ; they drop off at the 

 end of the year. My drawing shows the 

 cone in three stages of its development : 

 notice that the edges of the scales are 

 clean cut, not jagged. The needles are 

 usually a trifle curved, and on being 

 bruised emit a rather disagreeable, pun- 



White Spruce. 



