Family: Pinaceae, Pine view all from this family

Description The only spruce southward in eastern mountains, a handsome tree with broad or narrow, conical crown.
Height: 50-80' (15-24 m).
Diameter: 1-2' (0.3-0.6 m).
Needles: evergreen; 1/2-5/8" (12-15 mm) long. Stiff, 4-angled, sharp-pointed; spreading on all sides of twig from very short leafstalks. Shiny green, with whitish lines.
Bark: reddish-brown; thin, scaly.
Twigs: brown; slender, finely hairy, rough with peglike bases.
Cones: 1 1/4-1 1/2" (3-4 cm) long; cylindrical; reddish-brown; hanging down on short, straight stalk; falling at maturity; cone-scales stiff, rounded, often finely toothed; paired brown long-winged seeds.

Habitat Rocky mountain soils; often in pure stands.

Range Ontario east to Nova Scotia; from New England south in mountains to W. North Carolina and E. Tennessee; to 4500-6500' (1372-1981 m) in south.

Discussion Extensive virgin spruce-fir forests are preserved in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This species is a handsome ornamental; the wood has uses similar to White Spruce. Spruce gum, a forerunner of modern chewing gum made from chicle (gum from a tropical American tree), was obtained commercially from resin of both Red and Black spruce trunks. The young leafy twigs were boiled with flavoring and sugar to prepare spruce beer. Where the ranges overlap, Black Spruce is distinguishable from Red by its smaller dull gray cones curved downward on short stalks and remaining attached.