82 



WOOD AND FOREST. 



13 



RED SPRUCE.* 

 Picea rubens Sargent. 



Picea, the classical Latin name for the pitch pine; rubens refers to red- 

 dish bark, and perhaps to the reddish streaks in the wood. 



Habitat. 



Leaf. 



Habitat: (See map) ; 

 stunted in north. 



Characteristics of the 

 Tree : Height, 70'-SO', 

 even 100'; diameter, 2'-3', 

 grows slowly ; trunk, 

 straight, columnar, 

 branches in whorls, cleans 

 well in forest; bark, red- 

 dish brown with thin ir- 

 regular scales ; leaves, 

 needle-shaped, four-sided, 

 pointing everywhere ; 

 cones, lj4"-2" long, pen- 

 dent, fall during the first 

 winter. 



Appearance of Wood: 



Color, dull white with oc- 

 casional reddish streaks ; 

 sap-wood not distinct ; 

 non-porous ; rings, sum- 

 mer rings thin, but clearly 

 defined ; grain, straight ; 

 rays, faintly discernible ; 

 resin ducts, few and small. 



*No; distinguished in the Jesup collection from Picea nigra. 



