Ялина чорна

The tree

Black spruce (Picea mariana) is a slow-growing, small upright evergreen coniferous tree of the family Pinaceae. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. Its range extends into northern parts of the United States: in Alaska, the Great Lakes region, and the upper Northeast. It is a frequent part of the biome known as taiga or boreal forest. It is tolerant of nutrient-poor soils and is commonly found on poorly drained acidic peatlands.

The oil and its chemistry

The commercially available oil from the needles is rich in bornyl acetate. In one analysis of trees from the Grondines region of Quebec, bornyl acetate (34.2%) was the main compound of the oil. In that analysis, monoterpenes, mainly α-pinene (12.9%) and camphene (16.4%), made up at least 45% of the oil. An earlier description gave bornyl acetate as the main compound (37%), followed by α-pinene (16%), camphene (10%), β-pinene (6.5%) and limonene (6.5%). Needle oil is also reported to contain 37% to 46.5% of the oxygenated monoterpene bornyl acetate. Bornyl acetate is the acetate ester of borneol, and it is the main odoriferous component of needle oils from Pinaceae species.

Oil from the bark residue differs from needle oil: its composition is turpentine-like, with α-pinene and β-pinene predominant. Bornyl acetate occurs only in trace amounts in the bark oil. The hydrosol of the needles is rich in oxygenated monoterpenes, mainly α-terpineol, borneol, bornyl acetate and terpinen-4-ol.

The tree beyond perfumery

The timber is of low value because of the small size of the trees, but it is an important source of pulpwood. Black spruce is the provincial tree of Newfoundland and Labrador. Fast-food chopsticks are often made from black spruce. Along with red spruce, it has also been used to make spruce gum and spruce beer.

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