The average person finds it difficult to tell various evergreens apart. They can be identified readily by examining cones and berries. However, trees used in the Christmas tree industry are usually small ones and have not reached a sufficient age to be bearing berries or cones. Examination of foliage and bark will reveal their identity too.
Junipers (sometimes called red cedar) possess reduced scale-like leaves that are closely appressed to the stem. Arbor-vitae (Thuja) resembles juniper except that the scale-like leaf branches appear in flattened planes. Fruits on both these trees are berries.
Needles of pines appear usually in bunches of twos. threes or fives depending on the species. In most species these needles are relatively long. The needles of spruce and fir appear singly along the branchlets. The needles of spruce are angular in cross section whereas those of fir are flat and run along the branch on a flattened plane.
Very often the general feel of the spruce is much harsher and more prickly than that of a fir. With most species of spruce and fir the needles are relatively short, although there are some exceptions. Another difference is that the bark on the main trunk of spruce is relatively rough compared with that of firs.
The balsam fir is one of the most popular Christmas trees in the central and eastern markets. Its soft feel and ability to hold needles well over a reasonably long period are extremely desirable. White fir is very similar and comes to us from the western United States. The Douglas fir, while the most popular tree to come out of the Pacific-Northwest area is not a true fir.
The needles are flat but they are attached all the way around the stem instead of in a flat plane as with true firs. Its most important characteristic is the three toothed bracts extending prominently beyond the cone scales. Juniper or red cedar is frequently found in shelterbelt plantings, especially in the South and West sections of Mid-America.
Spruce are also popular Christmas trees. Red, black spruce and white spruce and its variety, the ‘Black Hills’ spruce, all make good Christmas trees. The chief objections to them are that they are mostly stiff needled and they appear harsher to the touch than fir. An introduced species, the Norway spruce, is also another favorite kind. Spruce tends to shed needles more rapidly than balsam and Douglas fir. Introduced from Europe, a Scotch pine is being marketed from Christmas tree farms. Needles are long and the tree tends to have a more or less open habit of growth. Southern species of pine that have entered into local trade in such areas are longleaf, slash, loblolly, and pitch pine.
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