of New York 



33 



RED SPRUCE 



Picea rubra, (DuRoi) Dietrich 



THE Red SPRUCE, also called Swamp Spruce and Spruce 

 Pine, is a small to medium-sized tree. It rarely exceeds 

 50 feet in height and 18 inches in diameter. 



The leaves are about Yi inch long, 4-sided, blunt-pointed, 

 and yellowish-green. 



RED SPRUCE 

 One-half natural size. 



The cones are about lj/j inches long, elongated, ovoid, 

 and short-stalked. The cone-scales are reddish-brown, usu- 

 ally with smooth margins. 



The bark is thin, close-fitting, and peels off into small 

 reddish-brown scales. The twigs are light reddish-orange- 

 brown, and usually coated with fine pale hairs. 



The wood is soft, usually white. It is used extensively 

 in the manufacture of paper pulp and sounding boards for 

 musical instruments. 



The Red Spruce occurs from Newfoundland west to Min- 

 nesota, south to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and along 

 the Alleghenies to Georgia. This tree is common through- 

 out northern New York and the Catskill region, and locally 

 abundant southward to Hudson highlands and westward to 

 the central part of the State. Wet, boggy places are its favor- 

 ite home. 



Closely related to the Red Spruce is the Black Spruce — 

 Picea mariana (Miller) BSP. The Black Spruce can be dis- 

 tinguished from the Red Spruce by its blue-green foliage and 

 its smaller cones, which are usually more persistent. The 

 cone-scales are jagged along the margin while those of the 

 Red Spruce are usually smooth. The Black Spruce is a 

 transcontinental tree, extending from Labrador to Alaska 

 and south to northern New Jersey, central Pennsylvania, 

 and Wisconsin. It is common in swamps and bogs across 

 the northern part of New York, and found locally south- 

 ward to Dutchess, Sullivan, and Delaware counties, and west- 

 ward to Cattaraugus county. It prefers wet, swampy places, 

 and is cut extensively for Christmas trees. 



