Handbook of the Trees of New England
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Lorin Low Dame >> Handbook of the Trees of New England
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Picea nigra, Link.
_Picea Mariana, B. S. P. (including Picea brevifolia, Peck)._
BLACK SPRUCE. SWAMP SPRUCE. DOUBLE SPRUCE. WATER SPRUCE.
=Habitat and Range.=--Swamps, sphagnum bogs, shores of rivers and ponds,
wet, rocky hillsides; not uncommon, especially northward, on dry uplands
and mountain slopes.
Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia, westward beyond the Rocky
mountains, extending northward along the tributaries of the Yukon
in Alaska.
Maine,--common throughout, covering extensive areas almost to the
exclusion of other trees in the central and northern sections,
occasional on the top of Katahdin (5215 feet); New Hampshire and
Vermont,--common in sphagnum swamps of low and high altitudes; the dwarf
form, var. _semi-prostrata_, occurs on the summit of Mt. Mansfield
(_Flora of Vermont_, 1900); Massachusetts,--frequent; Rhode Island,--not
reported; Connecticut,--rare; on north shore of Spectacle ponds in Kent
(Litchfield county), at an elevation of 1200 feet; Newton (Fairfield
county), a few scattered trees in a swamp at an altitude of 400 feet:
(New Haven county) a few small trees at Bethany; at Middlebury abundant
in a swamp of five acres (E. B. Harger, _Rhodora_, II, 126).
South along the mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee; west
through the northern tier of states to Minnesota.
=Habit.=--In New England, usually a small, slender tree, 10-30 feet high
and 5-8 inches in diameter; attaining northward and westward much
greater dimensions; reduced at high elevation to a shrub or dwarf tree,
2 or 3 feet high; trunk tapering very slowly, forming a narrow-based,
conical, more or less irregular head; branches rather short, scarcely
whorled, horizontal or more frequently declining with an upward tendency
at the ends, often growing in open swamps almost to the ground, the
lowest prostrate, sometimes rooting at their tips and sending up shoots;
spray stiff and rather slender; foliage dark bluish-green or glaucous.
This tree often begins to blossom after attaining a height of 2-5 feet,
the terminal cones each season remaining persistent at the base of the
branches, sometimes for many years.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk grayish-brown, separating into rather close, thin
scales; branchlets roughened with the footstalks of the fallen leaves;
twigs in autumn dull reddish-brown with a minute, erect, pale, rusty
pubescence, or nearly smooth.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds scaly, ovate, pointed, reddish-brown.
Leaves scattered, needle-shaped, dark bluish-green, the upper sides
becoming yellowish 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 where it climbs to the alpine area, and the higher
parts of the Connecticut-Merrimac watershed; Vermont,--throughout; the
common spruce of the Green mountains, often in dense groves on rocky
slopes with thin soil; Massachusetts,--common in the mountainous regions
of Berkshire county and on uplands in the northern sections, occasional
southward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--not reported.
South along the Alleghanies to Georgia, ascending to an altitude of
4500 feet in the Adirondacks, and 4000-5000 feet in West Virginia;
west through the northern tier of states to Minnesota.
=Habit.=--A hardy tree, 40-75 feet high; trunk 1-2-1/2 feet in diameter,
straight, tapering very slowly; branches longer than those of the black
spruce, irregularly whorled or scattered, the lower often declined,
sometimes resting on the ground, the upper rising toward the light,
forming while the tree is young a rather regular, narrow, conical head,
which in old age and in bleak mountain regions becomes, by the loss of
branches, less symmetrical but more picturesque; foliage dark
yellowish-green.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk smoothish and mottled on young trees, at length
separating into small, thin, flat, reddish scales; in old trees striate
with shallow sinuses, separating into ashen-white plates, often
partially detached; spray reddish or yellowish white in autumn with
minute, erect, pale rusty pubescence.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds scaly, conical, brownish, 1/3 inch long.
Leaves solitary, at first closely appressed around the young shoots,
ultimately pointing outward, those on the underside often twisting
upward, giving a brush-like appearance to the twig, 1/2-3/4 inch long,
straight or curved (curvature more marked than in _P. nigra_),
needle-shaped, dark yellowish-green, 4-angled; apex blunt or more or
less pointed, often mucronate; base blunt; sessile on persistent
leaf-cushions.
=Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile flowers terminal or axillary on wood of
the preceding year, 1/2-3/4 inch long, cylindrical; anthers pinkish-red:
fertile flowers lateral along previous season's shoots, erect; scales
madder-purple, spirally imbricated, broader than long, margin entire or
slightly erose.
=Fruit.=--Cones; single or clustered, lateral along the previous
season's shoots, recurved, mostly pointing downward at various angles,
on short stalks, falling the first autumn but sometimes persistent a
year longer, 1-2 inches long (usually larger than those of _P. nigra_),
reddish-brown, mostly ovate; scales thin, stiff, rounded; margin entire
or slightly irregular.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; adapts itself to a
great variety of soils and lives to a great age. Its narrow-based
conical form, dense foliage, and yellow green coloring form an effective
contrast with most other evergreens. It grows, however, slowly, is
subject to the loss of its lower branches and to disfigurement by
insects. Seldom offered in nurseries.
[Illustration: PLATE VII.--Picea rubra.]
1. Branch with sterile flowers.
2. Stamen, front view.
3. Stamen, side view.
4. Branch with fertile flowers.
5. Cover-scale and ovuliferous scale, outer side.
6. Ovuliferous scale with ovules, inner side.
7. Fruiting branch with cones of two seasons.
8. Seed.
9. Leaf.
10. Cross-sections of leaves.
=Picea alba, Link.=
_Picea Canadensis, B. S. P._
WHITE SPRUCE. CAT SPRUCE.[1] SKUNK SPRUCE.[2] LABRADOR SPRUCE.
=Habitat and Range.=--Low, damp, but not wet woods; dry, sandy soils,
high rocky slopes and exposed hilltops, often in scanty soil.
[Footnote 1, 2: So called from the peculiarly unpleasant odor of the
crushed foliage and young shoots,--a characteristic which readily
distinguishes it from the _P. nigra_ and _P. rubra_.]
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, through the provinces of Quebec and
Ontario to Manitoba and British Columbia, northward beyond all
other trees, within 20 miles of the Arctic sea.
Maine,--frequent in sandy soils, often more common than _P. rubra_, as
far south as the shores of Casco bay; New Hampshire,--abundant around
the shores of the Connecticut river, disappearing southward at
Fifteen-Mile falls; Vermont,--restricted mainly to the northern
sections, more common in the northeast; Massachusetts,--occasional in
the mountainous regions of Berkshire county; a few trees in Hancock (A.
K. Harrington); as far south as Amherst (J. E. Humphrey) and Northampton
(Mrs. Emily H. Terry), probably about the southern limit of the species;
Rhode Island and Connecticut,--not reported.
West through the northern sections of the northern tier of states
to the Rocky mountains.
=Habit.=--A handsome tree, 40-75 feet high, with a diameter of 1-2 feet
at the ground, the trunk tapering slowly, throwing out numerous
scattered or irregularly whorled, gently ascending or nearly horizontal
branches, forming a symmetrical, rather broad conical head, with
numerous branchlets and bluish-green glaucous foliage spread in dense
planes; gum bitter.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk pale reddish-brown or light gray, on very old
trees ash-white; not as flaky as the bark of the red spruce, the scales
smaller and more closely appressed; young trees and small branches much
smoother, pale reddish-brown or mottled brown and gray, resembling the
fir balsam; branchlets glabrous; shoots from which the leaves have
fallen marked by the scaly, persistent leaf-cushions; new shoots pale
fawn-color at first, turning darker the second season; bark of the tree
throughout decidedly lighter than that of the red or black spruces.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds scaly, ovoid or conical, about 1/4 inch
long, light brown. Leaves scattered, stout as those of _P. rubra_ or
very slender, those on the lower side straight or twisted so as to
appear on the upper side, giving a brush-like appearance to the twig,
about 3/4 of an inch long; bluish-green, glaucous on the new shoots,
needle-shaped, 4-angled, slightly curved, bluntish or sharp-pointed,
often mucronate, marked on each side with several parallel rows of dots,
malodorous, especially when bruised.
=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Sterile flowers terminal or axillary, on
wood of the preceding season; distinctly stalked; cylindrical, 1/2 an
inch long; anthers pale red: fertile flowers at or near ends of season's
shoots; scales pale red or green, spirally imbricated, broader than
long; margin roundish, entire or nearly so; each scale bearing two
ovules.
=Fruit.=--Cones short-stalked, at or near ends of branchlets, light
green while growing, pale brownish when mature, spreading, 1-2-1/2
inches long, when closed cylindrical, tapering towards the apex,
cylindrical or ovate-cylindrical when open, mostly falling the first
winter; scales broad, thin, smooth; margin rounded, sometimes
straight-topped, usually entire.
=Horticultural Value.=--A beautiful tree, requiring cold winters for its
finest development, the best of our New England spruces for ornamental
and forest plantations in the northern sections; grows rapidly in moist
or well-drained soils, in open sun or shade, and in exposed situations.
The foliage is sometimes infested by the red spider. Propagated from
seed.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.--Picea alba.]
1. Branch with sterile flowers.
2. Stamen, front view.
3. Stamen, side view.
4. Branch with fertile flowers.
5. Cover-scale and ovuliferous scale, outer side.
6. Ovuliferous scale with ovules, inner side.
7. Fruiting branch.
8. Open cone.
9. Seed with ovuliferous scale.
10. Leaves.
11. Cross-sections of leaves.
=Tsuga Canadensis, Carr.=
HEMLOCK.
=Habitat and Range.=--Cold soils, borders of swamps, deep woods,
ravines, mountain slopes.
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, through Quebec and Ontario.
Maine,--abundant, generally distributed in the southern and central
portions, becoming rare northward, disappearing entirely in most of
Aroostook county and the northern Penobscot region; New
Hampshire,--abundant, from the sea to a height of 2000 feet in the White
mountains, disappearing in upper Coos county; Vermont,--common,
especially in the mountain forests; Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut,--common.
South to Delaware and along the mountains to Georgia and Alabama,
ascending to an altitude of 2000 feet in the Adirondacks; west to
Michigan and Minnesota.
=Habit.=--A large handsome tree, 50-80 feet high; trunk 2-4 feet in
diameter, straight, tapering very slowly; branches going out at right
angles, not disposed in whorls, slender, brittle yet elastic, the lowest
declined or drooping; head spreading, somewhat irregular, widest at the
base; spray airy, graceful, plume-like, set in horizontal planes;
foliage dense, extremely delicate, dark lustrous green above and silver
green below, tipped in spring with light yellow green.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk reddish-brown, interior often cinnamon red,
shallow-furrowed in old trees; young trunks and branches of large trees
gray brown, smooth; season's shoots very slender, buff or light
reddish-brown, minutely pubescent.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Winter buds minute, red brown. Leaves
spirally arranged but brought by the twisting of the leafstalk into two
horizontal rows on opposite sides of the twig, about 1/2 an inch long,
yellow green when young, becoming at maturity dark shining green on the
upper surface, white-banded along the midrib beneath, flat, linear,
smooth, occasionally minutely toothed, especially in the upper half;
apex obtuse; base obtuse; leafstalk slender, short but distinct,
resting on a slightly projecting leaf-cushion.
=Inflorescence.=--Sterile flowers from the axils of the preceding year's
leaves, consisting of globose clusters of stamens with spurred anthers:
fertile catkins at ends of preceding year's branchlets, scales crimson.
=Fruit.=--Cones, on stout footstalks at ends of branchlets, pointing
downward, ripening the first year, light brown, about 3/4 of an inch
long, ovate-elliptical, pointed; scales rounded at the edge, entire or
obscurely toothed.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows almost
anywhere, but prefers a good, light, loamy or gravelly soil on moist
slopes; a very effective tree single or in groups, useful in shady
places, and a favorite hedge plant; not affected by rust or insect
enemies; in open ground retains its lower branches for many years. About
twenty horticultural forms, with variations in foliage, of columnar,
densely globular, or weeping habit, are offered for sale in nurseries.
[Illustration: PLATE IX.--Tsuga Canadensis.]
1. Branch with flower-buds.
2. Branch with sterile flowers.
3. Sterile flowers.
4. Spurred anther.
5. Branch with fertile flowers.
6. Ovuliferous scale with ovule, inner side.
7. Fruiting branch.
8. Cover-scales with seeds.
9. Leaf.
10. Cross-section of leaf.
=Abies balsamea, Mill.=
FIR BALSAM. BALSAM. FIR.
=Habitat and Range.=--Rich, damp, cool woods, deep swamps, mountain
slopes.
Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia, northwest to the Great
Bear Lake region.
Maine,--very generally distributed, ordinarily associated with white
pine, black spruce, red spruce, and a few deciduous trees, growing at an
altitude of 4500 feet upon Katahdin; New Hampshire,--common in upper
Coos county and in the White mountains, where it climbs up to the alpine
area; in the southern part of the state, in the extensive swamps
around the sources of the Contoocook and Miller's rivers, it is the
prevailing timber; Vermont,--common; not rare on mountain slopes and
even summits; Massachusetts,--not uncommon on mountain slopes in the
northwestern and central portions of the state, ranging above the red
spruces upon Graylock; a few trees here and there in damp woods or cold
swamps in the southern and eastern sections, where it has probably been
accidentally introduced; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--not reported.
South to Pennsylvania and along high mountains to Virginia; west to
Minnesota.
=Habit.=--A slender, handsome tree, the most symmetrical of the New
England spruces, with a height of 25-60 feet, and a diameter of 1-2 feet
at the ground, reduced to a shrub at high altitudes; branches in young
trees usually in whorls; branchlets mostly opposite. The branches go out
from the trunk at an angle varying to a marked degree even in trees of
about the same size and apparent age; in some trees declined near the
base, horizontal midway, ascending near the top; in others horizontal or
ascending throughout; in others declining throughout like those of the
Norway spruce; all these forms growing apparently under precisely the
same conditions; head widest at the base and tapering regularly upward;
foliage dark bright green; cones erect and conspicuous.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk in old trees a variegated ashen gray, appearing
smooth at a short distance, but often beset with fine scales, with one
edge scarcely revolute, giving a ripply aspect; branches and young trees
mottled or striate, greenish-brown and very smooth; branchlets from
which the leaves have fallen marked with nearly circular leaf-scars;
season's shoots pubescent; bark of trunk in all trees except the oldest
with numerous blisters, containing the Canada balsam of commerce.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, roundish, resinous, grouped on
the leading shoots. Leaves scattered, spirally arranged in rows, at
right angles to twig, or disposed in two ranks like the hemlock; 1/2-1
inch long, dark glossy green on the upper surface, beneath silvery
bluish-white, and traversed lengthwise by rows of minute dots, flat,
narrowly linear; apex blunt, in young trees and upon vigorous shoots,
often slightly but distinctly notched, or sometimes upon upper branches
with a sharp, rigid point; sessile; aromatic.
=Inflorescence.=--Early spring. Lateral or terminal on shoots of the
preceding season; sterile flowers oblong-cylindrical, 1/4 inch in
length; anthers yellow, red-tinged: fertile flowers on the upper side of
the twig, erect, cylindrical; cover-scales broad, much larger than the
purple ovuliferous scales, terminating in a long, recurved tip.
=Fruit.=--Cones along the upper side of the branchlets, erect or nearly
so in all stages of growth, purplish when young, 3-5 inches long, 1 inch
or more wide; puberulous; cover-scales at maturity much smaller than
ovuliferous scales, thin, obovate, serrulate, bristle-pointed;
ovuliferous scales thin, broad, rounded; edge minutely erose, serrulate
or entire; both kinds of scales falling from the axis at maturity; seeds
winged, purplish.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England, but best adapted to the
northern sections; grows rapidly in open or shaded situations,
especially where there is cool, moist, rich soil; easily transplanted;
suitable for immediate effects in forest plantations, but not desirable
for a permanent ornamental tree, as it loses the lower branches at an
early period. Nurserymen and collectors offer it in quantity at a low
price. Propagated from seed.
[Illustration: PLATE X.--Abies balsamea.]
1. Branch with flower-buds.
2. Branch with sterile flowers.
3. Branch with fertile flowers.
4. Cover-scale and ovuliferous scale with ovules, inner side.
5. Fruiting branch.
6. Ovuliferous scales with ovules at maturity, inner side.
7. Cone-scale and ovuliferous scale at maturity, outer side.
8-9. Leaves.
10-11. Cross-sections of leaves.
=Thuja occidentalis, L.=
ARBOR-VITAE. WHITE CEDAR. CEDAR.
=Habitat and Range.=--Low, swampy lands, rocky borders of rivers and
ponds.
Southern Labrador to Nova Scotia; west to Manitoba.
Maine,--throughout the state; most abundant in the central and northern
portions, forming extensive areas known as "cedar swamps"; sometimes
bordering a growth of black spruce at a lower level; New
Hampshire,--mostly confined to the upper part of Coos county,
disappearing at the White river narrows near Hanover; seen only in
isolated localities south of the White mountains; Vermont,--common in
swamps at levels below 1000 feet; Massachusetts,--Berkshire county;
occasional in the northern sections of the Connecticut river valley;
Rhode Island,--not reported; Connecticut,--East Hartford (J. N. Bishop).
South along the mountains to North Carolina and East Tennessee;
west to Minnesota.
=Habit.=--Ordinarily 25-50 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 1-2 feet,
in northern Maine occasionally 60-70 feet in height, with a diameter of
3-5 feet; trunk stout, more or less buttressed in old trees, tapering
rapidly, often divided, inclined or twisted, ramifying for the most part
near the ground, forming a dense head, rather small for the size of the
trunk; branches irregularly disposed and nearly horizontal, the lower
often much declined; branchlets many, the flat spray disposed in
fan-shaped planes at different angles; foliage bright, often
interspersed here and there with yellow, faded leaves.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk in old trees a dead ash-gray, striate with broad
and flat ridges, often conspicuously spirally twisted, shreddy at the
edge; young stems and large branches reddish-brown, more or less striate
and shreddy; branchlets ultimately smooth, shining, reddish-brown,
marked by raised scars; season's twigs invested with leaves.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Leaf-buds naked, minute. Leaves in opposite
pairs, 4-ranked, closely adherent to the branchlet and completely
covering it, keeled in the side pairs and flat in the others,
scale-like, ovate (in seedlings needle-shaped), obtuse or pointed at the
apex, glandular upon the back, exhaling when bruised a strong aromatic
odor.
=Inflorescence.=--April to May. Flowers terminal, dark reddish-brown;
sterile and fertile, usually on the same plant, rarely on separate
plants; anthers opposite; filaments short; ovuliferous scales opposite,
with slight projections near the base, usually 2-ovuled.
=Fruit.=--Cones, terminal on short branchlets, spreading or recurved,
about 1/2 inch long, reddish-brown, loose-scaled, opening to the base at
maturity; persistent through the first winter; scales 6-12, dry, oblong,
not shield-shaped, not pointed; margin entire or nearly so; seeds winged
all round.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England; adapts itself to all soils
and exposures, but prefers moist locations; grows slowly. Young trees
have a narrowly conical outline, which spreads out at the base with age;
retains its lower branches in open places, and is especially useful for
hedges or narrow evergreen screens; little affected by insects; often
disfigured, however, by dead branches and discolored leaves; is
transplanted readily, and can be obtained in any quantity from
nurserymen and collectors. The horticultural forms in cultivation range
from thick, low, spreading tufts, through very dwarf, round, oval or
conical forms, to tall, narrow, pyramidal varieties. Some have all the
foliage tinged bright yellow, cream, or white; others have variegated
foliage; another form has drooping branches. The bright summer foliage
turns to a brownish color in winter. It is propagated from the seed and
its horticultural forms from cuttings and layers.
[Illustration: PLATE XI.--Thuja occidentalis.]
1. Flowering branch with the preceding year's fruit.
2. Branch.
3. Sterile flower.
4. Stamen.
5. Fertile flower.
6. Scale with ovules.
=Cupressus thyoides, L.=
_Chamaecyparis sphaeroidea, Spach. Chamaecyparis thyoides, B. S. P._
WHITE CEDAR. CEDAR.
=Habitat and Range.=--In deep swamps and marshes, which it often fills
to the exclusion of other trees, mostly near the seacoast.
Cape Breton island and near Halifax, Nova Scotia, perhaps
introduced in both.
Maine,--reported from the southern part of York county; New
Hampshire,--limited to Rockingham county near the coast; Vermont,--no
station known; Massachusetts,--occasional in central and eastern
sections, very common in the southeast; Rhode Island,--common;
Connecticut,--occasional in peat swamps.
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