240 THE ALPINE THICKETS AND FORESTS 



THE SPRUCE. 



The Spruce, Spruce Fir, or Norway Spruce (Picea 

 excelsa, Link.) ( = Pinus picea, Dur. = Abies excelsa, 

 Poir.), like the Larch, is a familiar tree in Britain, 

 where it has been much planted and become natural- 

 ised, though not originally a native. Young Spruces 

 with us, as in Germany, are universally used as 

 Christmas trees. The Spruce is easily distinguished 

 from the Pines by the fact that the leaves are borne 

 singly on the branches and spirally arranged, and not 

 in groups of two or more on very short shoots. The 

 female cone terminates the shoot formed during 

 the previous year. It is first erect, but later becomes 

 pendulent, when the seeds, which may number over 

 300, drop out and are distributed by the wind, aided 

 by the wing-like expansion of the seed. 



As the specific name "excelsa" implies, it is one 

 of the loftiest trees found in Europe. Some specimens 

 are said to reach 150 to 180 feet in height. In the 

 Alps the average height is considerably less, and the 

 Spruce is usually overtopped by the Larch. Immense 

 forests of Spruce occur also in Scandinavia and 

 Northern Russia. 



The Spruce is an extremely useful tree. It yields 

 a resin from which turpentine is extracted, and it is 

 also largely used as timber in the construction of the 

 chalets so characteristic of the pastures. The deep, 

 reddish-brown colour of the old Alpine chalets is 

 caused by changes in the resinous substances of the 



