Part 20

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—A few trees near Cranesville, Preston County, growing in a swamp.

=Habitat=.—Prefers swamps and lake borders, but thrives in many other places.

=Notes=.—Tamarack is our only native cone-bearer with deciduous leaves. This tree has been transplanted in several places in the State where it makes a good appearance on the lawn.

RED SPRUCE

=Picea rubra=, (DuRoi) Deitr.

=Form=.—Height 70-80 feet, diameter 2-3 feet; trunk straight, continuous, free from limbs to a considerable height when in close stands; crown conical; limbs somewhat drooping below, horizontal in the middle, ascending above.

=Leaves=.—Crowded and diverging in all directions from the twig; rounded or acute points, ½-⅝ inch long, dark yellow-green.

=Flowers=.—April-May; monoecious; staminate oval, almost sessile, red; pistillate oblong, with thin rounded scales.

=Fruit=.—Cones ovate-oblong, narrowed from middle to acute apex; 1¼-2 inches long; scales reddish-brown with entire margins.

=Bark=.—Roughened by thin, irregular-shaped brown scales.

=Wood=.—Light, soft, close-grained, not strong, pale in color, with whitish sapwood.

=Range=.—Newfoundland to West Virginia and southward along the Alleghany Mountains to northern Georgia, west to Minnesota.

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—Growing at high elevation in Grant, Tucker, Randolph, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Webster, Nicholas and Greenbrier counties. Now largely removed by lumbermen.

=Habitat=.—Well-drained uplands; also on mountain tops and occasionally on borders of swamps.

=Notes=.—Since this species is the only native spruce in West Virginia there is no cause for confusing it with anything else. Norway spruce has much larger cones. Originally red spruce was one of our principal lumber trees, but when it is removed there is but little natural reproduction. Often planted for shade. Wood used for construction, musical instruments, furniture, aeroplanes and paper pulp.

HEMLOCK

=Tsuga canadensis=, (L.) Carr.

=Form=.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 2-4 feet; trunk with limbs nearly to the ground when in the open but free from them to a considerable height when in dense stands; slender horizontal branches form a pyramidal crown which is often irregular.

=Leaves=.—Arranged on all sides of the branch, but appearing as if in two ranks, flat, thin, rounded or slightly notched at the tip, about ½ inch long, dark green above, pale beneath.

=Flowers=.—April-May; monoecious; staminate in the axils, globose, yellow; pistillate terminal, pale green, oblong, with broad bracts and short pinkish scales.

=Fruit=.—Cones mature each autumn; borne on slender stalks; ovate, about ¾ of an inch long; scales rounded, about as broad as long; seeds about ⅛ inch long, half as long as their wings.

=Bark=.—With deep fissures on old trunks and prominent rounded ridges; inner bark cinnamon-red.

=Wood=.—Light, medium hard, brittle, coarse-grained, not easily worked, not durable when exposed to the weather; red-brown with lighter sapwood.

=Range=.—Nova Scotia, south to Alabama and west to Minnesota.

=Distribution in West Virginia=.—Common in nearly all parts of the State, reaching high elevations in the mountain counties, and confined to ravines and rough stony ground in most of the hilly sections.

=Habitat=.—Prefers damp stony northern exposures, deep stream gorges, river banks, and swamp borders.

=Notes=.—The hemlock ranks as one of the most useful trees. The wood is used for construction, paper pulp, and lath; the bark is used in tanning; and the trees are often planted on lawns and in hedges.

BALSAM FIR