white spruce

American  

noun

1. a spruce, Picea glauca, of northern North America, having bluish-green needles and silvery-brown bark.

2. the light, soft wood of this tree, used for pulp and in the construction of boxes, crates, etc.

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white spruce British  

noun

1. a N North American spruce tree, Picea glauca, having grey bark, pale brown oblong cones, and bluish-green needle-like leaves

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Etymology

Origin of white spruce

First recorded in 1760–70

Compare meaning

How does white-spruce compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• white spruce vs. Norway spruce
• white spruce vs. blue spruce

Example Sentences

The reason that white spruce fossils seemed to contradict their settings was because they did — the fossils weren't white spruce.

From Salon • Feb. 14, 2021

Last year was a “mast year,” he said, when white spruce trees produce a superabundance of cones, the squirrels’ favorite food.

From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2020

In the northernmost boreal forests of Alaska, where trees and tundra meet, Griffin and his students have installed thirty-six dendrometers on white spruce trees.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 27, 2019

It comes from northern Canada, where botanists in 1903 discovered the first known dwarf clinging to a white spruce — a species that can grow 10 stories tall.

From Seattle Times • May 27, 2018

It is perfectly hardy with us at Devils Lake, which is a very much more severe test, whereas the white spruce from its southern limits may not be hardy even here.

From Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 Embracing the Transactions of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society,Volume 44, from December 1, 1915, to December 1, 1916, Including the Twelve Numbers of "The Minnesota Horticulturist" for 1916 by Latham, A. W.