﻿Distmctive Characters of Canadian Sprnces. 169 



is caused by the individual leaves not being wholly green, 

 but having longitudinal rows of apparently white or 

 colorless dots or spaces, owing to the non-development of 

 clilorophyll in certain surface cells at regular intervals. 

 The old bark of the stem is grayish, not dark-colored, and 

 the young shoots of the year present a smooth, shining, 

 ivory-white surface, altogether destitute of trichomes 

 or roughness of any kind. The leaves vary in actual size 

 with tlie vigor of the tree, but are longer in proportion 

 than those of either of the other species ; the leaf-bases 

 from which they arise are arranged uniforndy around the 

 horizontal branches, but, although, spreading in direction 

 at their bases, are more or less curved upwards in a secund 

 manner, presenting a nearly uniform flattened brush-like 

 surface of foliage. The cones vary in absolute size, 

 according to vigor of tree, etc., but are always of much 

 greater length and usually more slender than those of the 

 other species, being nearly cylindrical, not sensibly 

 thickened in the middle as in nigra, nor below the middle 

 as in rubra. Dr. Bell well expresses their form as finger- 

 shaped. The scales are also more numerous than in 

 the allied species, and the spiral arrangement is different. 

 The cones are green at first, the individual scales being 

 sometimes clouded with a slight brown band-like patch on 

 the exposed part, but not extending to the edge. In 

 ripening, the green color mellow\s into a more or less 

 decided straw color, but the cones when mature are never 

 either dark or decidedly reddish. When of a lively straw- 

 color, and profusely produced all over the tree, as we often 

 see them along the shore, hanging down from the drooping 

 tips of the young branchlets, the contrast witli the bright 

 silver-frosted needle foliage is very pleasing^ so that 

 the white spruce is one of the most ornamental of 

 our native trees, and adnnrably adapted for sea-side 

 shelter. The edges of the cone scales are always quite 

 entire. 



