Black Spruce. Picea mariana. 
Leaves blue-green, ashy, standing out on the 
branches, shorter and blunter than white spruce. 
Cones ovate, one-half inch to 1% inches long, remain- 
ing on the trees for years, often conspicuously clustered 
in the tops. Bark thin and composed of gray-brown 
scales. Wood fine-grained but seldom used because 
of the small size of the tree. Branches short, sparse, 
often drooping slightly at the ends. 
Black spruce is found in the interior of Alaska as a 
small tree, on cold, wet flats, bogs, and lake margins, 
often scrubby and ranging from a few feet to 12 or 15 
feet tall. From the inland slopes of the coast moun- 
tains it ranges north and west, climbing at times to 
2,000 feet elevation. It is also found in Cook Inlet 
and may come over the range at other inlets and bays. 
White Spruce. Picea glauca. 
Leaves stiff, pointed, 4-angled, and standing out 
on all sides of twigs except near the ends where they 
mass on top. Cones 1 to 2% inches long, red tinged, 
maturing in one year, turning a light brown after 
falling in the autumn. Bark thin, in small scales. . 
Wood soft, fine, and straight-grained. The tree is 
characterized by a wide conical crown, drooping 
branches with upturned ends, and numerous small, 
drooping side branchlets. Larger trees of this species 
supply most of the locally sawed lumber of interior 
Alaska. 
White spruce ranges north to 68° and west to the 
mouth of the Yukon and upper Fish River on Seward 
Peninsula, reaching the Pacific side of the coast range 
at Cook Inlet and some other bays and inlets. It is 
not reported on the Arctic slope. 
It is not exacting as to habitat but does best on 
sandy soils along the edges of lakes and rivers, thriving 
under the light shade of poplars and birches, which it 
often replaces after fire or logging. 
