256 PEACTICAL POEESTKY. 



around the branches, seldom in rows or ranks as in the Firs. 

 We have five native species. 



PIcea alba, Michx. — White Spruce. — Leaves needle-shaped, 

 four-angled, one half to an inch long, and distributed aU 

 around the branch, those on the underside curving upward ; of 

 a light silvery-green color. Cones one to two inches long, 

 oblong-cyUndrical, with entire scales. Seeds small, with thin 

 wings, about three-eighths of an inch long. A very beautiful 

 tree, especially while young. A rather smaU tree, but some- 

 times fifty feet high. Native of the northern portion of the 

 United States, extending far northward into British America. 

 Wood light-colored, rather tough and flexible, sometimes used 

 for masts and spars for boats and small vessels on our lakes. 

 There are a few handsome cultivated varieties, the best known 

 are the Blue Spruce (var. ccemlea), with dark bluish-green 

 leaves, and the "Glory Spruce" (var. aurea), with golden- 

 tinted leaves. 



P. Engclmanni, Parry. — Engelmann's Spruce. — Leaves nearly 

 an inch long, strongly keeled below, abruptly, but not sharp- • 

 pointed. Cones one and a half to two inches long, and 

 about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, ovate-cylindrical, 

 and very much scattered on the tree. Scales rhombic, with 

 upper ends appearing as though broken off. 



In general outline this species resembles the next, but grows 

 to a larger size, or from sixty to one hundred feet high, with 

 stem two to three feet in diameter. Wood white, soft, or in 

 very old trees, reddish and rather coarse-grained, resembling 

 that of the Red Spruce of the Eastern States. In Northern 

 New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and northward to British 

 Columbia, in the mountains at high elevations, often reaching 

 up to the very border of what is termed " timber line," or be- 

 tween eleven and twelve thousand feet. 



P. nigra, Poiret. — ^Black or Double Spruce. — Leaves very short 

 or about a half inch long, stiff and somewhat quadrangular, 

 very dark green. Cones from an inch to an inch and a half 

 long, ovate, or ovate-oblong, dull reddish brown when mature. 

 Scales very thin, roundish, with an uneven margin. Seeds 

 small, with rigid wings. A large tree, seventy-flve feet high, 

 sometimes higher in deep woods. Wood light-colored, but 

 sometimes reddish, light, strong, w^eU known in all of our 

 Northern States under the name of Red or Black Spruce tim- 

 ber, and lumber of various forms. The Red or Black Spruce 



