PINE FAMILY 



Flowers. — May, June ; monoecious. Staminate flowers one-eighth 

 inch long, in subglobose axillary anienls ; anthers dark red with 

 nearly circular, toothed crests. Pistillate aments oblong-cylindrical 

 with obovate purple scales ; bracts purple ; ovules two, naked on the 

 base of each scale. 



Cones. — Terminal on short branches, pale yellow brown, oval or 

 ovate ; one to one and one-half inches long ; incurved at base, dis- 

 charging their seeds slowly, and persistent for several years. Scales 

 ridged, rounded at ape.x, margins pale, erose, or jagged. Seeds 

 small, wings pale brown, shining, one-half inch long. 



Tlie Black .Spruce is essentially a Canadian tree growing 

 abundantly in the Labrador peninsula and forming great 

 forests in Manitoba. Comparatively rare in the United 

 States, it is found principally along the northern border of 

 New England and New York and most abundantly on the 

 lake-shores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It has 

 very little beauty e.xcept when young. Then the branches 

 form a most regular and symmetrical outline, but as age 

 comes on it loses its youthful vigor and beauty and be- 

 comes prematurely old, misshapen, and unsightly. In the 

 forest all the lower branches fall off leaving a columnar 

 shaft which is crowned by a small open irregular head. 



The Black Spruce derives its name from the dark green 

 of its foliage which when inassed upon a mountain-side and 

 in shadow is of so sombre a hue as to appear black rather 

 than green. The name is given in distinction from the White 

 Spruce whose leaves are of a paler color. In the early 

 botanies the Black and the \Vhite Spruce were designated re- 

 spectively as double and single spruce, for reasons which are 

 not apparent, as the disposition of the leaves of each is the 

 same. In fact, these two species bear such resemblance to 

 each other that it is not always easy to distinguish them ; 

 the cones fui-nish the principal distinctive feature when the 

 flowering season is past. The cones of the Black Spruce are 

 ovate-oblong, have great staying powers, are always on the 

 trees at the flowering time and usually persist for several 

 years. The cones of the White Spruce on the other hand 

 are oblong or cylindrical and usually fall before the flower- 



472 



