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The Pine Famil> 



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Habit and Habitat: A tree, commonh rO feet tall, with 



trunk diameter of 1 ; the graceful ascending or pendulous, hori 



tal branches form ■ dense, conical or pyramidal, spire-topped crown; 

 •iv of the longer, lower branchea persist bo long that they often droop 

 noticeably as to touch the ground. Prefers moist, sandy or loamy 



Is but readily adapts itself to wide variations in BOil and climate. 

 Leaves and Buds: Leaves needle-like, spirally arranged about the 



twigs, : V|-1 inch long, crowded, deep, shining green, rigid, curved, acute 



but not needle-pointed, persistent for 5-7 years. Winter-buds OVoid, 

 acute, reddish-brown, ^s inch long - , dry, not resinous. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers produced in cones which usually :'.] pear 

 in May. Staminate cones ovoid or globose, long-stalked, reddish or 

 yellowish.. %-l inch long. The pistillate cones cylindrical, stalk-less, 

 erect, l'j-'i inches long, scales very numerous, bright green or tinged 

 with red. Fruit a light brown, elastic, leathery to woody cone, M-o' inches 

 long, maturing in the autumn of the second season, stalkless, cylindrical, 

 pendent from the tips of the uppermost branches, often in great numb« 

 tapering toward the base, rounded at the apex; seeds red-brown, rough, 

 inch long, with long, graceful wing-. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: Bark on old trunks thin, grayish-brown, 

 slightly fissured and scaly; the young twigs are red or orange-brown, 

 smooth and corrugated. The wood is light, strong, tough, elastic, soft, 

 fine-grained, white, with thick, indistinguishable sapwood; the wood is 

 known as "white deal - ' in Europe, and is used for a great many pur- 

 poses. 



Distribution in the State: As the name implies, this species grows 

 in Norway, it being a native of the northern portion of Europe and Asia. 

 It is the great tree of the Alps, to which much of the beauty of the 

 scenery in those mountains is due. Norway spruce is very commonly 

 and widely planted in this country and in this state. It does better in 

 the northern states but is quite successful as far south as Ohio. It 

 is probably the most common spruce planted in Nebraska since it is 

 easily furnished by the nurserymen, and it is easily transplanted. It 

 is a fine tree for ornamental planting and for shelter-belts and wind- 

 breaks, it grows rapidly for a conifer, but is short-lived in America. The 

 graceful, drooping habit is particularly pleasing in large trees grown 

 in the open. 



Remarks: Another spruce has been planted quite commonly in 



Nebraska and elsewhere and that is the native American blue spri; 



■ inn Sarg., which grows naturally in the mountains of Colo- 

 rado. Wyoming and Utah, at elevations between <'">(H) and 10,000 f< 

 This tree may be readilv distinguished from our other common spru 

 by means of the rigid, spine-tipped leaves which are often silvery-white 

 or very light blue when young, later becoming deep, dull, blue-green. 

 Tufts of such leaves are very effective and distinctive, and one ne< 

 only to run one's hand against the foliage to be sine of the identity 

 the tree. Most spruces may be told from their dose relatives, the 

 firs, by the usually, very rough twigs and the l-angled leaves of the 

 former. 





