Flora of North America species comparison

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Picea mariana

black spruce, épinette noire
Habit Trees to 25m (often shrublike); trunk to 0.25m diam.; 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. 3mm, 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;

scales fan-shaped, broadest near apex, 8–12 × 8–12mm, rigid, margin at apex irregularly toothed.
2n

=24.

Picea mariana
Habitat Muskegs, bogs, bottomlands, dry peatlands
Elevation 0–1500m (0–4900ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CT; MA; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NY; PA; RI; VT; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 (A.G. Gordon 1976).

Because Picea mariana is a small tree, it has limited commercial value. Frequently it is harvested with P. glauca and used for pulp.

Black spruce (Picea mariana) is the provincial tree of Newfoundland.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Pinaceae > Picea
Sibling taxa
P. abies, P. breweriana, P. engelmannii, P. glauca, P. pungens, P. rubens, P. sitchensis
Synonyms Abies mariana, P. brevifolia, P. mariana var. brevifolia, P. nigra, Pinus nigra
Name authority (Miller) Britton: Prelim. Cat. 71. (1888)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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