132 Forests and Trees 



dinary white spruce. Recently it has been described as a 

 distinct species under the name Picea albertiana, and is said 

 to have shorter and more globular cones than the eastern tree. 

 Whether or not it will continue to be regarded as a separate 

 species is still doubtful. 



It is recognized by Rydberg in his "Flora of the Rocky 

 Mountains and Adjacent Plains." 



2. BLACK SPRUCE. Picea mariana. (Miller) B. S. P. 



This is a companion of the white spruce both in appearance 

 and distribution, the two being frequently confused. It is 

 somewhat smaller than the preceding, with 

 rather shorter leaves. The branches are 

 short and drooping, with often a slight up- 

 ward curve at the tips. The lower branches 

 die more readily than in the white spruce 

 and often fall off on one side or in patches 

 along the trunk, leaving only a compara- 

 tively short, perfect cone at the top. To the 

 person well acquainted with these two trees 

 their general appearance will enable the two 



FIG. 9. Black species to be distinguished even at a dis- 

 Spruce. 



tance. For those who require a more minute 



point of difference the cones furnish the most distinctive feature. 

 In the black spruce these are less than an inch long and become 

 almost globular when the scales open to discharge the seed. 

 Unlike the white spruce, the seed is shed slowly and the cones 

 remain on the stems for years, the older near the base of the 

 stems and the newer towards the apex. The cones of different 

 ages sometimes form dense masses on the upper branches and 

 make an unmistakable point of identification. 



This tree is distributed all across Canada and extends far 

 northward. In the more southern part of its range it grows 

 only in cold sphagnum bogs, but in more northern regions is 



