Cones on a tree in a recently-burned muskeg, central Alaska [C.J. Earle]. |
Picea mariana
(Miller) Britton Sterns, & Poggenburg 1888
Common NamesBlack spruce, bog spruce, swamp spruce, épinette noire (Canadian French) (2).
Taxonomic notesSyn: Abies mariana Miller 1768; Picea brevifolia Peck; P. mariana var. brevifolia (Peck) Rehder; P. nigra (Aiton) Link; Pinus nigra Aiton (2)."To a limited extent, Picea mariana hybridizes with P. rubens , e.g., on disturbed sites in eastern Canada. Natural hybridization with P. glauca , though reported, remains unverified (Gordon 1976)" (2). DescriptionTrees to 25 m tall and 25 cm dbh (often much smaller, occurring as krummholz near the arctic treeline); "crown narrowly conic to spirelike. Bark gray-brown. Branches short and drooping, frequently layering; twigs not pendent, rather slender, yellow-brown, pubescent. Buds gray-brown, ca. 3 mm, apex acute. Leaves 0.6-1.5(2) cm, 4-angled in cross section, rigid, pale blue-green, glaucous, bearing stomates on all surfaces, apex mostly blunt-tipped. Seed cones 1.5-2.5(-3.5) cm [in cultivation rarely to 4.5 cm]; scales fan-shaped, broadest near apex, 8-12 × 8-12 mm, rigid, margin at apex irregularly toothed. 2 n =24" (2). Cones fusiform, matt, dark purple ripening purple-brown (c.f. P. rubens ovoid, glossy, orange-brown).RangeCanada: all provinces; France: St. Pierre and Miquelon; USA: Alaska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine at 0-1500 m in muskegs, bogs, bottomlands, and relatively dry peatlands (2). See also (4). USDA hardiness zone 2.Big TreeHeight 24 m, dbh 50 cm, crown spread 6 m, located in Taylor County, WI (3).OldestPayette & Gagnon (1979, p.244) report crossdated ages up to 300 years.DendrochronologyEthnobotanyAlthough it is a small tree, vast tracts of it are currently being logged in Canada, primarily for pulp but also for timber (for example, the chopsticks provided at fast-food restaurants in the Far East are usually P. mariana ).ObservationsReadily encountered in its native habitat throughout Canada, Alaska, and northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine.RemarksBlack spruce is the provincial tree of Newfoundland (2).Citations(1) Silba 1986 .(2) Ronald J. Taylor at the Flora of North America web site . (3) American Forests 1996 . (4) Robert S. Thompson, Katherine H. Anderson and Patrick J. Bartlein. 1999. Atlas of Relations Between Climatic Parameters and Distributions of Important Trees and Shrubs in North America. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1650 A&B. URL= http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/ppapers/p1650-a/pages/conifers.html, accessed 22-Jan-2000.
See also:
This page co-edited with Michael P. Frankis, Dec-1998. |
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