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Evergreen pyramidal trees with scaly bark; leaves alternate/scattered, 4- angled without proper leaf-stalks but perched on persistent decurrent projections ("pegs") from the bark; cones ovate to cylindrical and pendant, falling off the tree entire (unlike Abies sp.). The spruces are distinguished from the balsam fir by the 4-sided scattered leaves, the projecting leaf-scars and the scaly bark. |
| 91. | Twigs hairy. | 92 |
| 91. | Twigs smooth or nearly so, cones cylindrical. | 94 |
| 92. | Cones cylindrical, more than 3 inches long; cultivated species. | |
| 92. | Cones ovate to oblong, less than 3 inches long. | 93 |
| 93. | Leaves dark yellowish green, 0.5 to 0.75 inches long; cones ovate-oblong 1.25 to 2 inches long; tree growing on uplands, rarely in wet places, reaching 40 feet or more in height. | Picea
rubens, Red Spruce |
| 93. | Leaves bluish green 0.25 to 0.5 inch long, cones ovate 0.5 to 1.5 inches long, persistent on tree for more than a year; tree growing chiefly in swamps or lowlands, generally under 30 feet in height, sometimes fruiting when less than 5 feet tall. | Picea
mariana, Black Spruce |
| 94. | Leaves green; cones 4 to 7 inches long; cultivated species. | |
| 94. | Leaves buish-green or silvery. | 95 |
| 95. | Cones 2.5 to 4 inches long, scales distinctly longer than broad with narrowed, ragged, blunt apex; cultivated western species. | Picea
pungens, White Spruce |
| 95. | Cones 1.5 to 2 inches long, scales rounded, not ragged; leaves generally with unpleasant odor; native in northern New England but cultivated further south. |
Picea glauca, White Spruce |