black spruce

American  

noun

1. a spruce, Picea mariana, of North America, having bluish-green leaves and grayish-brown bark.

2. the light, soft wood of this tree.

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black spruce British  

noun

1. Also called: spruce pine.  a coniferous tree, Picea mariana , of the northern regions of North America, growing mostly in cold bogs and having dark green needles

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Etymology

Origin of black spruce

An Americanism dating back to 1755–65

Example Sentences

They find that increasing wildfires are wiping out black spruce forests that grow relatively slowly and contribute to the organic layer of the underlying soils.

From Science Daily

I rented a bulldozer and cleared four acres of the small—if ancient—black spruce and set to work.

From Literature

But the cold weather forest in northern Minnesota is a place where only the hardiest trees can survive winter: black spruce, jack pine and quaking aspen, to name a few.

From Scientific American

Today, water from the lake is processed and piped from the treatment plant to about 40 homes and government buildings on the reserve, which is encircled by forests of black spruce and jack pine.

From New York Times

The fire burning in brush, hardwoods, black spruce and tundra was 12% contained.

From Seattle Times