wish in the sunlight, the faces marked by parallel rows of
minute bluish dots which sometimes give a glaucous effect to the lower
surface or even the whole leaf on the new shoots, 4-angled, 1/4-3/4 of
an inch long, straight or slightly incurved, blunt at the apex, abruptly
tipped or mucronate, sessile on persistent, decurrent footstalks.

=Inflorescence.=--April to May, a week or two earlier than the red
spruce; sterile flowers terminal or axillary, on wood of the preceding
year; about 3/8 inch long, ovate; anthers madder-red: fertile flowers at
or near end of season's shoots, erect; scales madder-red, spirally
imbricated, broader than long, margin erose, rarely entire.

=Fruit.=--Cones, single or clustered at or near ends of the season's
shoots, attached to the upper side of the twig, but turning downward by
the twisting of the stout stalk, often persistent for years; 1/2-1-1/2
inches long; purplish or grayish brown at the end of the first season,
finally becoming dull reddish or grayish brown, ovate, ovate-oval, or
nearly globular when open; scales rigid, thin, reddish on the inner
surface; margin rounded, uneven, eroded, bifid, or rarely entire.

=Horticultural Value.=--Best adapted to cool, moist soils; of little
value under cultivation; young plants seldom preserving the broad-based,
cone-like, symmetrical heads common in the spruce swamps, the lower
branches dying out and the whole tree becoming scraggly and unsightly.
Seldom offered by nurserymen.

[Illustration: PLATE VI.--Picea nigra.]

1. Branch with sterile flowers.
2. Stamen, front view.
3. Stamen, side view.
4. Stamen, top view.
5. Branch with fertile flowers.
6. Cover-scale and ovuliferous scale, outer side.
7. Ovuliferous scale with ovules, inner side.
8. Fruiting branch.
9. Seed.
10. Leaf.
11. Cross-sections of leaves.

=Picea rubra, Link.=

_Picea rubens, Sarg. Picea nigra, var. rubra, Engelm._

RED SPRUCE.

=Habitat and Range.=--Cool, rich woods, well-drained valleys, slopes of
mountains, not infrequently extending down to the borders of swamps.

Prince Edward island and Nova Scotia, along the valley of the St.
Lawrence.

Maine,--throughout: most common towards the coast and in the
extreme north, thus forming a belt around the central area, where
it is often quite wanting except on cool or elevated slopes; New
Hampshire,--throughout; the most abundant conifer of upper Coos, the
White mountain region