The Pine Family 



broken into irregular scales, but not deeply furrowed. The 

 branches are stout and stiff, with a slight curve upward, and the 

 branchlets, though not flexible, are often drooping. In young 

 trees, grown in the open where the light can reach them from 

 all sides, these branches may extend in regular whorls from 

 quite close to the ground, forming an almost perfect cone. 



The leaves are about three quarters of an inch long, stiff, 

 rather sharp-pointed, and, except when crowded or where the 

 light is not good, are pretty evenly distrib- 

 uted around the stem. In young shoots 

 they are light bluish-green, the new growth 

 thus forming a pleasing contrast with the 

 more sombre foliage of previous years. At 

 times these leaves have a very distinctly 

 skunk-like odor, which has given rise to the 

 local name of skunk spruce in some places. 



The cones are sessile or nearly so, from 

 two to three inches long, tapering grace- 

 fully to both ends. When young they are 

 pale green or reddish but become shiny 

 brown when mature. They shed their 

 seeds early in the fall and usually drop off during the winter. 



The wood is soft, white and easily worked, but not very strong 

 or durable when exposed to the weather. It is extensively used 

 as lumber and pulpwood, which makes this spruce one of our 

 most valuable forest trees. 



This is the evergreen of the prairie, where it seems to prefer 

 dry, sandy soil, although it also grows in moist places. It is 

 widely distributed all across Canada and is extensively culti- 

 vated for ornamental purposes. 



ALBERTA SPRUCE. Picea albertiana. (S. Brown). 



The western white spruce of Alberta and British Columbia 

 has always been regarded as simply a western form of the or- 



FIG. 8. White 

 Spruce. 



