Picea mariana

Last updated

Black spruce
Black spruce stand at Arctic Chalet, Inuvik, NT.jpg
Stand of black spruce near Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Picea
Species:
P. mariana
Binomial name
Picea mariana
(Mill.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenburg
Picea mariana levila.png
Synonyms [2]
Synonymy
  • Abies denticulataMichx.
  • Abies marianaMill.
  • Abies nigra(Castigl.) Du Roi
  • Peuce rubraRich.
  • Picea brevifoliaPeck
  • Picea ericoidesBean
  • Picea nigra(Du Roi) Link
  • Pinus denticulata(Michx) Muhl.
  • Pinus mariana(Mill.) Du Roi
  • Pinus marylandicaAntoine
  • Pinus nigraAiton1789 not J.F. Arnold 1785

Picea mariana, the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of Newfoundland and Labrador and is that province's most abundant tree. Its range extends into northern parts of the United States: in Alaska, the Great Lakes region, and the upper Northeast. It is a frequent part of the biome known as taiga or boreal forest. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

The Latin specific epithet mariana means "of the Virgin Mary". [8]

Description

Needles and young cones Picea mariana cones.jpg
Needles and young cones

P. mariana is a slow-growing, small upright evergreen coniferous tree (rarely a shrub), having a straight trunk with little taper, a scruffy habit, and a narrow, pointed crown of short, compact, drooping branches with upturned tips. Through much of its range it averages 5–15 m (15–50 ft) tall with a trunk 15–50 cm (6–20 in) diameter at maturity, though occasional specimens can reach 30 m (98 ft) tall and 60 cm (24 in) diameter. The bark is thin, scaly, and greyish brown. The leaves are needle-like, 6–15 mm (1⁄4–9⁄16 in) long, stiff, four-sided, dark bluish green on the upper sides, paler glaucous green below. The cones are the smallest of all of the spruces, 1.5–4 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄2 in) long and 1–2 cm (1⁄2–3⁄4 in) broad, spindle-shaped to nearly round, dark purple ripening red-brown, produced in dense clusters in the upper crown, opening at maturity but persisting for several years. [3] [4]

Natural hybridization occurs regularly with the closely related P. rubens (red spruce) and very rarely with P. glauca (white spruce). [3] It differs from P. glauca in having a dense cover of small hairs on the bark of young branch tips, an often darker reddish-brown bark, shorter needles, smaller and rounder cones, and a preference for wetter lowland areas. Numerous differences in details of its needle and pollen morphology also exist but require careful microscopic examination to detect. From true firs, such as Abies balsamea (balsam fir), it differs in having pendulous cones, persistent woody leaf-bases, and four-angled needles, arranged all round the shoots.

Due to the large difference between heartwood and sapwood moisture content, it is easy to distinguish these two wood characteristics in ultrasound images, [9] which are widely used as a nondestructive technique to assess the internal condition of the tree and avoid useless log breakdown. Older taxonomic synonyms include A. mariana, P. brevifolia, or P. nigra.

Ecology

Growth varies with site quality. In swamp and muskeg it shows progressively slower growth rates from the edges toward the centre. The roots are shallow and wide spreading, resulting in susceptibility to windthrow. In the northern part of its range, ice pruned asymmetric black spruce are often seen with diminished foliage on the windward side. [10] Tilted trees colloquially called "drunken trees" are associated with thawing of permafrost. [3] [11]

In the southern portion of its range it is found primarily on wet organic soils, but farther north its abundance on uplands increases. In the Great Lakes region it is most abundant in peat bogs and swamps, also on transitional sites between peatlands and uplands. In these areas it is rare on uplands, except in isolated areas of northern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Black spruce taiga, Copper River, Alaska Picea mariana taiga.jpg
Black spruce taiga, Copper River, Alaska

Most stands are even-aged due to frequent fire intervals in black spruce forests. It commonly grows in pure stands on organic soils and in mixed stands on mineral soils. It is tolerant of nutrient-poor soils and is commonly found on poorly drained acidic peatlands. It is considered a climax species over most of its range; however, some ecologists question whether black spruce forests truly attain climax because fires usually occur at 50 to 150 year intervals, while "stable" conditions may not be attained for several hundred years. [3] The frequent fire return interval, a natural fire ecology, perpetuates numerous successional communities. Throughout boreal North America, Betula papyrifera (paper birch) and Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen) are successional hardwoods that frequently invade burns in black spruce. Black spruce typically seeds in promptly after fire and with the continued absence of fire eventually dominates the hardwoods.

Black spruce is a pioneer that invades the sphagnum mat in filled-lake bogs, though often preceded slightly by Larix laricina (tamarack). Black spruce frequently out-competes shade-intolerant tamarack in the course of bog succession. [12] However, as the peat soil is gradually elevated by the accumulation of organic matter and the fertility of the site improves, balsam fir and northern white cedar ( Thuja occidentalis ) eventually replace black spruce and tamarack. On drier sites following fires, black spruce can take over stands of faster growing jack pine (Pinus banksiana) by virtue of its ability to grow in partially shaded conditions which inhibit pine seedlings. [13] But black spruce seedlings are intolerant to the low light and low moisture conditions under mature spruce stands. Balsam fir and northern white cedar, both more understory-tolerant species with deeper taproots, survive and eventually succeed the spruce in the absence of fire. [14]

The spruce budworm, a moth larva, causes defoliation which kills trees if it occurs several years in a row, though black spruce is less susceptible than white spruce or balsam fir. Trees most at risk are those growing along with balsam fir and white spruce. [15]

Cultivation

Numerous cultivars have been selected for use in parks and gardens. The cultivar P. mariana 'Nana' is a dwarf form which has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [16] [17] Picea mariana is known to hybridize with Serbian spruce, Picea omorika . The hybrid is Picea machala , and hybrids with Sitka spruce are known as well.[ citation needed ]

Uses and symbolism

Black spruce is the provincial tree of Newfoundland and Labrador. The timber is of low value due to the small size of the trees, but it is an important source of pulpwood and the primary source of it in Canada. [18] Fast-food chopsticks are often made from black spruce. [5] It is increasingly being used for making cross laminated timber by companies such as Nordic Structures, which allows the high strength due to the tight growth rings to be assembled into larger timbers. [19] Along with red spruce, it has also been used to make spruce gum and spruce beer. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiga</span> Biome characterized by coniferous forests

Taiga or tayga, also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga or boreal forest is the world's largest land biome. In North America, it covers most of inland Canada, Alaska, and parts of the northern contiguous United States. In Eurasia, it covers most of Sweden, Finland, much of Russia from Karelia in the west to the Pacific Ocean, much of Norway and Estonia, some of the Scottish Highlands, some lowland/coastal areas of Iceland, and areas of northern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia, and northern Japan.

<i>Pinus nigra</i> Species of conifer

Pinus nigra, the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as well as Crimea and in the high mountains of Northwest Africa. The world's oldest black pine, located in the Banaz district of Uşak, Türkiye, is estimated to be 1000 years old. This makes it significant in the country, which is known for a very dry climate, inhospitable for most trees. It has a length of 11 meters, a diameter of 3 meters and a circumference of 9.60 meters.

<i>Picea abies</i> Species of plant

Picea abies, the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.

<i>Pinus contorta</i> Species of plant

Pinus contorta, with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, but is rare in lowland rain forests. Like all pines, it is an evergreen conifer.

<i>Abies balsamea</i> Species of conifer tree

Abies balsamea or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States.

<i>Picea omorika</i> Species of conifer

Picea omorika, commonly known as the Pančić spruce or Serbian spruce, is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the Drina River valley in western Serbia, and eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a total range of only about 60 ha, at 800–1,600 m (2,600–5,200 ft) altitude. It was originally discovered near the Serbian village of Zaovine, on Mount Tara, in 1875, and named by the Serbian botanist Josif Pančić; the specific epithet omorika is simply the Serbian word for the tree.

<i>Larix laricina</i> Species of larch native to North America

Larix laricina, commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and also south into the upper northeastern United States from Minnesota to Cranesville Swamp, West Virginia; there is also an isolated population in central Alaska.

<i>Abies concolor</i> Species of conifer tree

Abies concolor, the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges of southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico. It naturally occurs at elevations between 900 and 3,400 metres.

<i>Picea breweriana</i> Species of conifer

Picea breweriana, known as Brewer spruce, Brewer's weeping spruce, or weeping spruce, is a species of spruce native to western North America, where it is one of the rarest on the continent. The specific epithet breweriana is in honor of the American botanist William Henry Brewer.

<i>Picea rubens</i> Species of plant

Picea rubens, commonly known as red spruce, is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec and Nova Scotia, west to the Adirondack Mountains and south through New England along the Appalachians to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. This species is also known as yellow spruce, West Virginia spruce, eastern spruce, and he-balsam. Red spruce is the provincial tree of Nova Scotia.

<i>Picea glauca</i> Species of conifer

Picea glauca (Moench) Voss., the White Spruce, is a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in Canada and United States, North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue spruce</span> Species of tree

The blue spruce, also commonly known as Colorado spruce or Colorado blue spruce, is a species of spruce tree native to North America in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. It is noted for its blue-green colored needles, and has therefore been used as an ornamental tree in many places far beyond its native range.

<i>Picea orientalis</i> Species of conifer

Picea orientalis, commonly known as the Oriental spruce or Caucasian spruce, is a species of spruce native to the Caucasus and adjacent northeast Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser fir</span> Species of conifer

The Fraser fir, sometimes spelled Frasier fir, is an endangered species of fir native to the Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States. They are endemic to only seven montane regions in the Appalachian Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England–Acadian forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States

The New England-Acadian forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in North America that includes a variety of habitats on the hills, mountains and plateaus of New England and New York State in the Northeastern United States, and Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boreal forest of Canada</span> Canadian biome characterized by coniferous forests

Canada's boreal forest is a vast region comprising about one third of the circumpolar boreal forest that rings the Northern Hemisphere, mostly north of the 50th parallel. Other countries with boreal forest include Russia, which contains the majority; the United States in its northernmost state of Alaska; and the Scandinavian or Northern European countries. In Europe, the entire boreal forest is referred to as taiga, not just the northern fringe where it thins out near the tree line. The boreal region in Canada covers almost 60% of the country's land area. The Canadian boreal region spans the landscape from the most easterly part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to the border between the far northern Yukon and Alaska. The area is dominated by coniferous forests, particularly spruce, interspersed with vast wetlands, mostly bogs and fens. The boreal region of Canada includes eight ecozones. While the biodiversity of regions varies, each ecozone has characteristic native flora and fauna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest</span> Ecoregion of the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States

The southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest is an ecoregion of the temperate coniferous forests biome, a type of montane coniferous forest that grows in the highest elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. The ecoregion is the highest and coldest forest type in the Appalachian range, thriving in elevations above 5,500 feet (1,700 m) where the climate is too harsh to support the broad-leaved hardwood forest that dominates the region's lower elevations. A relict of the last Ice Age, this forest type covers just over 100 square miles (260 km2) and is considered to be among the most endangered ecosystems in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coniferous swamp</span> Forested wetlands dominated by conifers

Coniferous swamps are forested wetlands in which the dominant trees are lowland conifers such as northern white cedar. The soil in these swamp areas is typically saturated for most of the growing season and is occasionally inundated by seasonal storms or by winter snow melt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern forest–boreal transition</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in Canada and the United States

The eastern forest–boreal transition is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of North America, mostly in eastern Canada. It is a transitional zone or region between the predominantly coniferous Boreal Forest and the mostly deciduous broadleaf forest region further south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecological regions of Quebec</span>

The Ecological regions of Quebec are regions with specific types of vegetation and climates as defined by the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks. Given the size of this huge province, there is wide variation from the temperate deciduous forests of the southwest to the arctic tundra of the extreme north.

References

  1. ↑ Farjon, A. (2013). "Picea mariana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T42328A2972877. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42328A2972877.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Picea mariana". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Farjon, A. (1990). Pinaceae. Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera. Koeltz Scientific Books. ISBN   3-87429-298-3..
  4. 1 2 Rushforth, K. (1987). Conifers. Helm. ISBN   0-7470-2801-X.
  5. 1 2 Earle, Christopher J., ed. (2018). "Picea mariana". The Gymnosperm Database.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Ronald J. (1993). "Picea mariana". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 2. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  7. ↑ "Picea mariana". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  8. ↑ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN   978-1845337315.
  9. ↑ Wei, Q.; Chui, Y. H.; Leblon, B.; Zhang, S. Y. (2009). "Identification of selected internal wood characteristics in computed tomography images of black spruce: A comparison study". Journal of Wood Science. 55 (3): 175. Bibcode:2009JWSci..55..175W. doi: 10.1007/s10086-008-1013-1 . S2CID   135727845.
  10. ↑ Hogan, C. Michael (2008). Stromberg, Nicklas (ed.). "Black Spruce: Picea mariana". GlobalTwitcher.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05.
  11. ↑ Kokelj, S.V.; Burn, C.R. (2003). "'Drunken forest' and near-surface ground ice in Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada". In Marcia Phillips; Sarah Springman; Lukas Arenson (eds.). Proceedings of the 8th Int'l Conf. on Permafrost (PDF). Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema. ISBN   9058095827 . Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  12. ↑ Conway, V.M (1949). "The bogs of central Minnesota". Ecological Monographs. 19 (2): 173–206. Bibcode:1949EcoM...19..173C. doi:10.2307/1948637. JSTOR   1948637.
  13. ↑ Kozlowski, T.T.; Ahlgren, C.E. (1974). Fire and Ecosystems. Cambridge Massachusetts: Academic Press. p. 542. ISBN   9780124242555.
  14. ↑ Bloomberg, W.J. (1950). "Fire and spruce". Forestry Chronicle. 26 (2): 157. doi: 10.5558/tfc26157-2 .
  15. ↑ "Forest Pest Fact Sheet" (PDF). Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  16. ↑ "Picea mariana 'Nana' AGM". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  17. ↑ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 78. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  18. ↑ Powers, R.F.; Adams, M.B.; Joslin, J.D.; Fisk, J.N. (2005). "Non-Boreal Coniferous Forests of North America". In Andersson, F. (ed.). Coniferous Forests (1st ed.). Amsterdam [u.a].: Elsevier. p. 271. ISBN   978-0-444-81627-6.
  19. ↑ "BLACK SPRUCE'S UNIQUE FIBER". Chantiers Chibougamou. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  20. ↑ Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 284. ISBN   0-394-50760-6.

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