black spruce

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.

black spruce

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of black spruce¹

An Americanism dating back to 1755–65

Example Sentences

Its rocky surface sustained a scant growth of gnarled black spruce and stunted white birch, with here and there patches of brush.

From Project Gutenberg

The background was a lone black spruce against the shifting sky scenery.

From Project Gutenberg

Regiments of black spruce stood in endless files like grenadiers, each tree capped with a thick tuft of matted cones and branches.

From Project Gutenberg

Run up that black spruce there, and taste the seeds 167 in the cones.

From Project Gutenberg

He circled twice about the caribou and the pack, and then trotted off to the edge of the black spruce forest.

From Project Gutenberg