Flora of North America species comparison

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Picea mariana

Picea breweriana

black spruce, épinette noire

Brewer spruce, weeping spruce
Habit Trees to 25m (often shrublike); trunk to 0.25m diam.; crown narrowly conic to spirelike. Trees to 40m; trunk to 1.5m diam., typically buttressed; crown conic.
Bark

gray-brown.

gray to brown.
Branches

short and drooping, frequently layering;

twigs not pendent, rather slender, yellow-brown, pubescent.

drooping;

twigs pendent, elongate, slender, gray-brown, finely pubescent.
Buds

gray-brown, ca. 3mm, apex acute.

gray-brown, 5–7mm, apex rounded.
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.

1.5–3cm, flattened or broadly triangular in cross section (abaxial surface rounded or slightly angular), rather rigid, abaxial surface dark green with stomatal bands absent, adaxial surface glaucous with conspicuous stomatal bands separated by slight ridge or angle, apex blunt (especially on older leaves).
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.

cones 6.5–12cm;

scales fan-shaped, 15–20 × 15–20mm, rigid, margin at apex entire to slightly erose.
2n

=24.

Picea mariana

Picea breweriana
Habitat Muskegs, bogs, bottomlands, dry peatlands Montane to subalpine forests of the Siskiyou Mountains
Elevation 0–1500m (0–4900ft) 1000–2300m (3300–7500ft)
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
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
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[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. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Pinaceae > Picea Pinaceae > Picea
Sibling taxa
P. abies, P. breweriana, P. engelmannii, P. glauca, P. pungens, P. rubens, P. sitchensis
P. abies, P. engelmannii, P. glauca, P. mariana, 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) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 20: 378. (1885)
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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