Spruce
Spruce, the common name of a genus of evergreen cone-bearing trees of the pine family. There are about 50 species. In most of the species the trees are broad at the base, gradually tapering to the top. The cones, at the tips of the branches, usually hang downwards. Four-sided, or keeled, needles grow in a somewhat spiral fashion around the branches. Spruces (named for Pruce, or Prussia) are native to the cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and also occur in the mountains of warmer areas.
The Norway spruce was introduced from Europe into North America, where it is planted as a forest tree and as an ornamental. It can reach a height of 150 feet (45 m). The most important spruces in North America for commercial purposes are the black spruce and white spruce of Canada and the eastern half of the northern United States, and the red spruce, which is found primarily in the northeastern United States and adjacent areas of Canada. The black spruce grows from 12 feet (4 m), in the northern limits of its range, to 100 feet (30 m); the white spruce, from 40 to 120 feet (12 to 36 m); and the red spruce, from 60 to 100 feet (18 to 30 m).
Engelmann spruce (from 20 to 165 feet [6 to 50 m]) and blue, or Colorado, spruce (80 to 150 feet [24 to 45 m]) grow in the Rocky Mountain region. Sitka spruce, on the Pacific coast, can grow to more than 200 feet (60 m); it is the largest of the North American species. Brewer, or weeping, spruce is a rare species found on the coastal ranges of California and Oregon.
Spruce trees are popular as ornamentals and for shelterbelts, and are often used as Christmas trees. The most important use of spruce wood is to supply pulp for papermaking. The pulp is also used to make rayon and cellulose acetate. The lumber obtained from several species of spruce is light, strong, and relatively easy to work; it is widely used in light construction and in the manufacture of such items as sounding boards for musical instruments, furniture, boxes, boats, and oars. Spruce beer is made from young shoots of the black or red spruce.
Spruces from the genus Picea of the pine family Pinaceae. The Norway spruce is P. abies; the black spruce, P. mariana; the white spruce, P. glauca; the red spruce, P. rubens; Engelmann spruce, P. engelmannii; the blue spruce, P. pungens; the Sitka spruce, P. sitchensis; the Brewer spruce, P. breweriana.