Spruce

MFA Acc. #: 17.1939

Description

Any of several trees from the Picea family native to North America. Spruce trees, in general, have light weight, soft wood with a straight, even grain. The strong wood is easily worked. It is used for musical instrument sounding boards, ladders, cabinets, boxes, paper pulp, and rayon. Examples include: black spruce (P. mariana), blue spruce (P. pungens), Engelmann spruce (P. engelmannii), red spruce (P. rubens), Sitka spruce (P. sitchensis), and white spruce (P. glauca).

MFA Acc. #: 17.2206

Synonyms and Related Terms

Eastern spruce; épicea (Fr.); Schwartztanne (Deut.); picea (Esp.); espruce (Port.); black spruce (Picea mariana); blue spruce (Picea pungens); Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii); red spruce (Picea rubens); Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensi); white spruce (Picea glauca)

Density	23-44 ppcf

Other Properties

Paper fiber type: Softwood. Using transmitted light microscopy, fibers are identified by the presence of very small, oval, piceoid ray parenchyma pits, 2-4 across. May show cupressiod or taxodiod features. Ray tracheids are non-dentate. Appearance with Graff "C" stain: varies with pulping method . Average dimensions of fibers: length, 3.4mm width 3.1 μm. Common pulping method: kraft and sulfite. It is difficult to distinguish spruce fibers from Hemlock fibers in pulp.

FTIR

Additional Information

Schoch, W., Heller, I., Schweingruber, F.H., Kienast, F., 2004:Wood anatomy of central European Species: Common Spruce,Norway Spruce, Picea abies Karsten

Additional Images

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  Spruce (Picea spp)

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  Spruce paper pulp stained with Graff "C" stain

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  Spruce paper pulp stained with Graff "C" stain

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  Spruce paper pulp stained with Graff "C" stain

Authority

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 758

• F. H. Titmuss, Commercial Timbers of the World, The Technical Press Ltd., London, 1965 Comment: Picea glauca density = 23-33 ppcf

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• External source or communication Comment: Northern Pine Manufacturers: air-dry weight = 27pcf

• Marja-Sisko Ilvessalo-Pfäffli. Fiber Atlas: Identification of Papermaking Fibers (Springer Series in Wood Science). Springer, 1995.

• Walter Rantanen. "Fiber ID Course." Integrated Paper Services. June 2013. Lecture.

• Edward Reich, Carlton J. Siegler, Consumer Goods: How to Know and Use Them, American Book Company, New York City, 1937

• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Robert Weast (ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, v. 61, 1980 Comment: density=30-44 ppcf (0.48-0.70 g/cm3)