The Adirondack Black Spruce. 



PIOEA NIGEA, Link, 



Black, Double, or Eed Speucb. 

 Fr., Efinette noire;^ Grer., SohwartBtanne; Sp., Aheto negro. 



Leaves dark green, needle-shaped, four-sided, about one-half inch in length, 

 and set thickly on all sides of the branches; flowers in May, the cells of the 

 antlers opening lengthwise. Nodding cones, persistent for several years, 

 from one to one and one-half inches long, ovate in shape, recurved, with thin, 

 rigid scales having a characteristic broken or slightly jagged edge, the cones 

 hanging on the end of short branches. Bark thin, of a dark-brown color 

 somewhat tinged with gray, covered with roundish scales. 



While the principal habitat of this species is to be found in 

 New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Canada, it 

 extends northward to Hudson Bay, and southward as far as North 

 Carolina, although it grows but sparsely in Pennsylvania. It is 

 found also as far west as Wisconsin. Years ago it formed a large 

 part of the forest which covered the Catskill mountains, but 

 was rarely found in the western part of this State. 



In New York it attains a common height of 80 feet (24.38 m.), 

 with a common diameter of 18 inches (45.7 cm.) ; and a maximum 

 height of 106 feet (32 m.), with a maximum diameter of 36 

 inches (91.4 cm.). It prefers a hilly and mountainous region with 

 an altitude ranging from 1,200 to 1,800 feet, and while it is found 

 at its best on mountain slopes it grows readily in low, swampy 

 vaUeys. 



It furnishes a light softwood of medium strength, with a 

 straight close grain. The heartwood has a tinge of red ; it is 

 very often white. The sapwood, which is generally of a lighter 

 shade, or a pure white, is about two inches deep in trees which 

 have attained a diameter of 20 inches or more. The smaller 

 trees have a thicker sap proportionately. It has a specific gravity 

 of 0.5 !J4; percentage of ash, 0.27; average tensile strength, 



* The French Canadians caU it JBJpinette a la bt^re. 



