THE SPRUCE AND HEMLOCK 15 



Commercial value: The wood is light and soft and is 

 used for construction timber, paper pulp, and fuel. 



Other characters: The fruit is a large slender cone, 

 four to seven inches long. 



Comparisons: The white spruce (Picea canadensis) 

 may be told from the Norway spruce by the whitish color 

 on the under side of its leaves and the unpleasant, pungent 

 odor emitted from the needles when bruised. The cones 

 of the white spruce, about two inches long, are shorter 

 than these of the Norway spruce, but are longer than those 

 of the black spruce. 



It is essentially a northern tree growing in all sorts of 

 locations along the streams and on rocky mountain slopes 

 as far north as the Arctic Sea and Alaska. It often appears 

 as an ornamental tree as far south as New York and Penn- 

 sj Ivania. 



The black spruce (Picea mariana) may be told from the 

 other spruces by its small cone, which is usually only about 

 one inch in length. In New England it seldom grows to 

 as large a size as the other spruce trees. 



It covers large areas in various parts of northern North 

 America and grows to its largest size in Manitoba. The 

 black spruce has little value as an ornamental tree. 



The Colorado blue spruce (Picea parryana or Picea 

 pungens) which is commonly used as an ornamental tree 

 en lawns and in parks, can be told from the other spruces 

 by its pale-blue or sage-green color and its sharp-pointed, 

 coarse-feeling twigs. Its small size and sharp-pointed 

 conical form are also characteristic. 



It grows to a large size in Colorado and the Middle West. 

 In the Eastern States and in northern Europe where it is 

 planted as an ornamental tree, it is usually much smaller. 



