Black spruce
- Latin name: Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.
- French name: Épinette noire
- Synonym(s): Bog spruce swamp spruce
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 183302
Description
Leaves
Form
- Straight, blunt-pointed
- Needles densely set along the twig
- Side needles at right angles, upper needles pointing forward
Length
- 8–15 mm
Colour
- Dull greyish-green
- Lines of white dots more prominent on lower surface
Buds
Form
- Conical, blunt-tipped; outer scales hairy with long slender points projecting beyond the tip of the bud, inner scales broader
Length
- 3–5 mm
Colour
- Outer scales dull brownish-grey
- Inner scales darker brown
Twigs
Form
- Leaf-cushions flat, grooves closed, with many short brownish hairs, which may be crooked and/or tipped with a gland
- Twigs of very young trees often hairless
Colour
- Dark orange-brown or yellowish-brown, dull, with a dark purplish stain at the base of the leaf-peg
Seed cones (immature)
Form
- Broadly ovoid
- Blunt-pointed, gradually tapered to a curved, short, scale-covered stalk
Length
- 2–3 cm
Colour
- Deep red to purple changing to dark purplish-brown
Structure
- Scales brittle, tight-fitting
- Margin irregularly toothed
Seed cones (mature)
Form
- Open cones almost spherical
Structure
- Scale margin thin, brittle, toothed
Timing
- Some cones produced nearly every year
- Mature in September
- Remain on the tree up to 30 years
- Often massed at the top of the tree
Seeds
Length
- Seed about 2 mm
- Seed wing 2–4 mm
Colour
- Dark
Bark
Form
- Thin, scaly or shredded when young
- Scales becoming larger
Colour
- Reddish- or greyish-brown when young, becoming darker
- Newly exposed bark olive-green or yellowish-green
Wood
Uses
- Wood pulp, lumber
Size
Height
- To 20 m on poorly drained sites
- To 30 m on well-drained upland sites
Diameter
- To 30 cm on poorly drained sites
- To 60 cm on well-drained sites
Maximum age
- 200 years
Tree form
Forest-grown
Crown
- On poorly drained sites, crown narrow, spire-like
- On well-drained upland sites, principal branches short compared with other spruces, lower ones greatly drooping, tips upturned
- Upper part of the crown often very dense, oddly shaped, with many cones
Root system
- Very shallow, especially on organic soils with a high water table
Habitat
Site
- Adaptable
- In the southern part of its range generally confined to wet poorly drained sites
- Usually a slow-growing wetland tree, but occurs frequently on upland sites
- Northward, usually grows on moist organic soils
Light tolerance
- Moderately shade-tolerant
Associated species
- In the southern part of its range, in pure stands or with tamarack
- Northward, in extensive pure stands, or mixed with jack pine, white spruce, balsam fir, white birch, trembling aspen, and lodgepole pine
Range
Transcontinental, southward into the United States
Photos
Photos
Anthony Scullion
Insects and mites
Insects that cause damage to this tree.
-
Pales weevil
Scientific name: Hylobius pales (Herbst)
-
Spruce beetle
Scientific name: Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kirby)
Cones or seeds
-
Fir coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria abietivorella (Grote)
-
Orange spruce needleminer
Scientific name: Coleotechnites piceaella (Kearfott)
-
Spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)
-
Spruce coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe
-
Two-year cycle spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura occidentalis biennis (Freeman)
Flowers, fruits, or seeds
-
Orange spruce needleminer
Scientific name: Coleotechnites piceaella (Kearfott)
-
Spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)
-
Spruce coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe
Foliage or buds
Hemlock looper
Scientific names:
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria
- Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa
- Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria
-
Balsam fir sawfly
Scientific name: Neodiprion abietis (Harris)
- Coleotechnites atrupictella (Dietz)
-
Eastern blackheaded budworm
Scientific name: Acleris variana (Fernald)
-
European spruce sawfly
Scientific name: Gilpinia hercyniae (Hartig)
-
Fir coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria abietivorella (Grote)
-
Fir needle inchworm
Scientific name: Eupithecia lariciata (Frey.)
-
Gray spruce looper
Scientific name: Caripeta divisata Walker
-
Green larch looper
Scientific name: Semiothisa sexmaculata (Packard)
-
Greenheaded spruce sawfly
Scientific name: Pikonema dimmockii Cresson
-
Hemlock looper
Scientific names:
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria
- Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa
- Lambdina fiscellaria somniaria
-
Lambdina fiscellaria
(Guenée)
- Hydriomena speciosata (Packard)
-
Larch needleworm
Scientific name: Zeiraphera improbana (Walker)
-
Larch pug moth
Scientific name: Eupithecia annulata (Hulst)
-
Orange spruce needleminer
Scientific name: Coleotechnites piceaella (Kearfott)
-
Pero moth
Scientific name: Pero morrisonaria (Hy. Edwards)
-
Pine leaf adelgid
Scientific name: Pineus pinifoliae (Fitch)
-
Pine measuringworm moth
Scientific name: Hypagyrtis piniata (Pack.)
- Protoboarmia porcelaria (Guenee)
-
Purplestriped shootworm
Scientific name: Zeiraphera unfortunana Powell
-
Redlined conifer caterpillar
Scientific name: Feralia jocosa (Gn.)
-
Small pine looper
Scientific name: Eupithecia palpata Pack.
-
Spruce bud moth
Scientific name: Zeiraphera canadensis Mutuura and Freeman
-
Spruce bud scale
Scientific name: Physokermes piceae (Schr.)
-
Spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)
-
Spruce climbing cutworm
Scientific name: Syngrapha alias (Ottolengui)
-
Spruce coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe
-
Spruce fir looper
Scientific name: Macaria signaria dispuncta (Walker)
-
Spruce webspinning sawfly
Scientific name: Cephalcia fascipennis (Cresson)
-
Threelined larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx luteipes (Cresson)
-
Two-year cycle spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura occidentalis biennis (Freeman)
-
Western larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx occidens Ross
-
Whitetriangle leafroller
Scientific name: Clepsis persicana (Fitch)
-
Yellowheaded spruce sawfly
Scientific name: Pikonema alaskensis (Rohwer)
-
Yellowlined forest looper
Scientific name: Cladara limitaria (Walker)
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Diseases caused by pathogens
Diseases caused by pathogens that cause damage to this tree.
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
-
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
-
Brown cubical sap rot
Pathogen name: Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulfen: Fr.) P. Karst.
-
Diplodia blight
Pathogen name: Diplodia sapinea (Fr.) Fuckel
-
Spruce needle cast (Lophodermium piceae)
Pathogen name: Lophodermium piceae (Fckl.)
Cones or seeds
-
Brown felt blight
Pathogen name: Herpotrichia juniperi (Duby) Petr.
-
Inland spruce cone rust
Pathogen name: Chrysomyxa pirolata G. Wint. in Rabenh.
-
Large-spored spruce – Labrador tea rust
Pathogen name: Chrysomyxa ledicola (Peck) Lagerh.
-
Sirococcus Shoot Blight
Pathogen name: Sirococcus conigenus (Dc.) Cannon & Minter
Foliage or buds
Small-spored spruce-Labrador tea rusts
Pathogen names:
- Chrysomyxa nagodhii P.E. Crane
- Chrysomyxa neoglandulosi P.E. Crane
-
Brown felt blight
Pathogen name: Herpotrichia juniperi (Duby) Petr.
-
Diplodia blight
Pathogen name: Diplodia sapinea (Fr.) Fuckel
-
Large-spored spruce – Labrador tea rust
Pathogen name: Chrysomyxa ledicola (Peck) Lagerh.
-
Needle cast (Lirula macrospora)
Pathogen name: Lirula macrospora (R. Hartig) Darker
-
Sirococcus Shoot Blight
Pathogen name: Sirococcus conigenus (Dc.) Cannon & Minter
-
Small-spored spruce-Labrador tea rusts
Pathogen names:
- Chrysomyxa nagodhii P.E. Crane
- Chrysomyxa neoglandulosi P.E. Crane
-
Spruce broom rust
Pathogen name: Chrysomyxa arctostaphyli Dietel
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
Pitted sap rot
Pathogen name: Trichaptum abietinum (Dicks.) Ryvarden (Common names for this fungus: purple conk fungus, purple-toothed polypore)
Schweinitzii butt rot
Pathogen name: Phaeolus schweinitzii (Fr.) Pat. (Common names for the fungus: velvet-topped polypore, dyer’s polypore)
Distribution map
