148 TREES OF MINNESOTA. 



swamps properly managed should prove profitable in- 

 vestments. 



Larix europea. European Larch. 



Leaves longer than those of the Tamarack and of a 

 brighter green color. Cones longer than those of the Tama- 

 rack. A large and important timber tree. 



Distribution. Native of northern and central Europe on 

 moist mountain sides. 



Properties of wood. Hard, strong, tough, very durable in- 

 contact with the soil. Specific gravity 0.62. 



Uses. The European Larch has been largely planted in 

 the eastern states in small timber plantations, for windbreaks 

 and ornament. It is superior to oar native Larch for these 

 purposes, but has not succeeded well on our western prairies, 

 probably on account of the dry climate. 'On moist soil in 

 somewhat sheltered locations it often does well and becomes a 

 graceful pretty tree. Very large and successful plantations 

 of this tree have been made in Scotland and other European 

 countries. The lumber is used for posts, telegraph poles, 

 piles, beams and joists and in ship building. One tree grown 

 at Owatonna, Minnesota, attained a height of about 50 feet 

 and a diameter of 15 inches in 30 years, but so rapid a growth 

 is uncommon here. 



Genus PICEA. 



Leaves evergreen, scattered, not grouped in sheaths, 

 jointed on a persistent base, needle shaped, 4-angled, short, 

 pointing every way and all of one kind. Flowers appear, 

 in spring, monoecious; the staminate catkins in the axils of 

 the leaves of the preceding year: the pistillate catkins termi- 

 nal ovoid or oblong. Fruit a cone maturing the first year, 

 pendulous with thin tough scales that open when ripe and dry, 

 to liberate the two, winged seeds, found at the base of each 

 scale. Trees tall and pyramidal or conical in form. 



Picea canadensis. ( P. alba. ) White Spruce. 



Leaves slender, $ to 1 inch long, varying in color from 

 light glaucous to dark green, falling during fourth and fifth 

 seasons. Cones oblong, 1 to 2 inches in length, deciduous in 



