THE ADIRONDACK BLACK SPRUCE. 9 



from other trees, its branches are persistent and cover the trunk 

 from the ground to the crown, forming a pyramidal- shaped tree 

 with a conical head whose regular and symmetrical outlines elicit 

 praise from some, while the primness and exactness of shape is 

 objectionable to others. 



In growing it attains height by the annual increase of one lead- 

 ing terminal shoot, which adds to its height 10 to 15 inches each 

 year. From the base of th s terminal shoot there is formed each 

 year a whorl of branches which gradually shorten in passing 

 from the lower to the upper ones, the lower ones having each 

 one more year of growth than the one above it. The branches, 

 which are in whorls of four or more, are horizontal with a slight 

 tendency to an upward direction. As the trees increase in age 

 the whorls become less distinct, owing to the decay and falling 

 off of the branches. 



The black spruce derives its name from the very dark hut of 

 its Joliage which, when massed on $>ome mountain slope, is of such 

 a sombre color that it appears to be black rather than green. 

 The name is also used in distinction from the white spruce, whose 

 leaves are of a pale or glaucous hue. In many of our manuals 

 the black and white spruce are designated respectively as the 

 double and single spruce, but the reason for this peculiar distinc- 

 tion is not readily apparent. 



These two species bear such a resemblance that it is not always 

 easy to identify them, the cones, which differ but slightly in size 

 and shape, furnishing the principal distinctive feature when the 

 flowering season has past. The white spruce is far less abundant 

 throughout the Adirondacks, being rarely seen outside of Essex 

 county. It is a much smaller tree, and its branches are more per- 

 sistent, most of the trees being covered with limbs from the p\ ra- 

 midal apex do vvn to the ground. The difference between these 

 species is best described by Mr. Charles EL Peck, State Botanist, 

 who in referring to their resemblance says : 



" The resemblance between the white spruce and some forms of 

 the black spru -e is so close i hat it is not always easy for an un 

 skilled person to separtte them. The descriptions of these trees, 

 as given in the manual, indicate but a part of their distinctive 

 features, and the characters there ascribed to the edges of the 

 cone scales do not in all cases hold good. Having compared 

 2 



