SPRUCE. (_Picea_.) The spruces form forests in Europe and North America. The black spruce (_P. nigra_) and the white spruce (_P. alba_) predominate in eastern United States, while the white spruce (_P. engelmanni_) is important in the West. The Norway spruce, or white fir (_P. excelsa_), is the chief European species. American trees prefer Northern ranges characterized by short summers and long winters. The soft, light, clean woods resemble and are probably the best substitute for soft pine. They are apt to warp and twist in seasoning and so are not good for posts and trusses. Spruce is the principal wood in New England for studding and floor-joists. The product is divided commercially and according to appearance, but irrespective of species, into white and black spruce. These terms depend sometimes, at least, on the wide and narrow rings of the black spruce (_P. nigra_). It should be remembered that spruce and fir woods are often confused with one another, and that there are trees, as the Douglas spruce and Kauri pine or spruce, that are called, but are not, true spruces. European spruce is often locally known as white deal. Spruce trees have single, sharp-pointed, short leaves, pointing everywhere, and keeled above and below so as to appear four-sided; the cones hang down. Spruce may be distinguished from the pines, firs, and hemlocks by the fact that pine leaves are longer and in clusters, that hemlock leaves are flat, blunt, and two-ranked, and that fir cones point upward. The genus picea has twelve species, five of which are North American. The resins of the black and red spruce are used as confections. [p149] [Illustration: PLATE 29. BLACK SPRUCE (_Picea nigra_).] The following table sets forth the primary distinctions between the spruces and the pines, firs, and hemlocks: Pines (_Pinus_) Arrangement of Leaves. In tufts or clusters. Shape of Leaves. Comparatively long. Cones. Spruce (_Picea_) Arrangement of Leaves. Single, scattered, point in all directions. Shape of Leaves. Short, sharp ends, keeled above and below. Somewhat four-sided. Cones. Hang down, 1 to 6 inches long. Fir (_Abies_) Arrangement of Leaves. Single, scattered, appear somewhat as in two ranks. Shape of Leaves. Short, blunt ends, flat. Cones. Stand erect, 2 to 4 inches long. Hemlock (_Tsuga_) Arrangement of Leaves. Single, scattered, appear as in two ranks. Shape of Leaves. Short, blunt ends, flat. Cones. Hang down, 3/4 to 1 inch long. [p150] BLACK SPRUCE. _Picea nigra Link._ _Picea mariana Mill._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Spruce (Vt.), Yew Pine, Spruce Pine (W. Va.). Double Spruce (Me., Vt., Minn.). Blue Spruce (Wis.). White Spruce (W. Va.). He Balsam (Del., N. C.). Water Spruce (Me.). Locality.