Swamp Spruce 



51 



scarcely i mm. wide, rounded, sharp or thickly taper-pointed, incurved, somewhat 

 crowded and pointing outward in all directions from the twig, very shining, dark 

 green, the upper sides bearing several rows of stomata on each side of the rounded 

 midrib; the lower sides marked with fewer stomata. The staminate flowers are 

 oval, nearly sessile, 13 mm. long and reddish. The pistillate flowers are oblong- 

 cylindric, about 12 mm. long. The ovoid to oblong cones are 3 to 5 cm. long, 

 narrowed toward the base and apex, short-stalked, purplish green, red-brown when 

 mature, and usually fall off during the first winter or early summer. The scales 

 are broadly obovate, roxmded and entire or nearly so on the thin flexible margin, 

 red-brovm and shining. The dark brown seeds are 3 mm. long with a broad 

 wing 6 to 8 mm. long. 



The wood is soft, weak, close-grained, not durable, pale reddish yellow, and its 

 specific gravity is about 0.45. It is used largely in general carpentry, in the 

 manufacture of paper pulp, and for musical instruments. Its resinous exudation 

 supplies much of the " spruce gum, " and an infusion of the yoimg twigs and 

 leaves forms the basis of the old-time spruce beer. 



Owing to the confusion of this and the closely related and less desirable Swamp 

 spruce, Picea Mariana, this tree has not been brought into cultivation as exten- 

 sively as it deserves to be, as it is one of the most desirable of the Spruces for 

 ornament in North America and Europe, its chief drawback being its slow growth. 



3. SWAMP SPRUCE— Picea Mariana (MiUer) B. S. P. 

 Ahies Mariana Miller. Picea hrevifolia Peck. Picea nigra (Aiton) Link 



This spruce, which is also called the Black spruce and frequently receives the 

 many other names applied to our Red spruce by 

 those who do not differentiate the two species, is 

 an inhabitant of Sphagnum bogs or their borders, 

 except in the north, where it also occurs on moun- 

 tain tops and slopes, often reduced to a shrub, 

 and in valleys. It is known from Labrador across 

 the continent to 'Alaska south to New York, and 

 in the mountains into Pennsylvania, and to Wis- 

 consin and Saskatchewan, attaining in its greatest 

 development a height of 30 meters with a trunk 

 diameter of 9 dm. 



The branches are relatively short and slender, 

 usually pendulous, the ends often turning upward, 

 forming an open irregular conic tree, with branches 

 close to the ground when growing in the open. 

 The bark is 6 to 13 mm. thick, fissured into irregu- 

 lar, thin, close brownish scales. The twigs are slender, covered with brown hairs, 

 light brown becoming smooth and darker with age. The winter buds are ovoid, 



Fig. 44. — Swamp Spruce. 



