Editing Spruce (section)

== Uses ==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2009}}

===Timber===
[[File:Wood picea abies.jpg|thumb|upright|''P. abies'' wood]]
Spruce is useful as a building wood, commonly referred to by several different names including North American timber, SPF (spruce, pine, fir) and whitewood (the collective name for spruce wood).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-07 |title=17 Different Types of Pine Wood |url=https://www.homestratosphere.com/types-of-pine-wood/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Home Stratosphere |language=en-US}}</ref> It is commonly used in [[Canadian Lumber Standard]] graded wood.<ref name="Homebuilding">{{cite web | last=Jenkins | first=Steve | title=What is CLS timber and what DIY projects is it good for? | website=Homebuilding & Renovating | date=2023-09-03 | url=https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/what-is-cls-timber | access-date=2024-08-22}}</ref> Spruce wood is used for many purposes, ranging from general construction work and crates to highly specialised uses in wooden aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web |last=LaFalce |first=Ben |date=2019-09-24 |title=Types of Wood: Guide to Choose the Best for Your Furniture |url=https://octaneseating.com/blog/types-of-wood-for-furniture/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Octane Seating |language=en-US}}</ref> The [[Wright brothers]]' first aircraft, the ''[[Wright Flyer|Flyer]]'', was built of spruce.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/wright1903.html |title=Milestones of Flight - 1903 Wright Flyer |publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum|Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405082131/http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/wright1903.html |archive-date=5 April 2004 |access-date=21 August 2016|date=2016-04-28}}</ref>

Because this species has no insect or decay resistance qualities after logging, it is generally recommended for construction purposes as indoor use only (indoor drywall framing, for example). Spruce wood, when left outside cannot be expected to last more than 12–18 months depending on the type of climate it is exposed to.<ref>{{cite web |title=Picea Genus (spruce) |url=https://conifersociety.org/conifers/picea |website=American Conifer Society |access-date=13 June 2019}}</ref>

===Pulpwood===
Spruce is one of the most important [[Pulpwood|woods]] for paper uses, as it has long wood fibres which bind together to make strong paper. The fibres are thin walled and collapse to thin bands upon drying. Spruces are commonly used in mechanical pulping as they are easily [[Bleaching of wood pulp|bleached]]. Together with northern [[pine]]s, northern spruces are commonly used to make [[NBSK]]. Spruces are [[Plantation|cultivated]] over vast areas as pulpwood.

===Food and medicine===
[[File:SpruceEssentialOil.png|thumb|Spruce (''Picea mariana'') essential oil in a clear glass vial]]

The fresh shoots of many spruces are a natural source of [[vitamin C]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/treebook/sitkaspruce.htm |title= Tree Book - Sitka spruce (''Picea sitchensis'') |publisher=British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations |access-date=29 July 2006}}</ref> [[Captain Cook]] made alcoholic sugar-based [[spruce beer]] during his sea voyages in order to prevent [[scurvy]] in his crew.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1Oy7Qz1tewC&q=Spruce+beer+Captain+Cook&pg=PA39 |title=A social history of medicines in the twentieth century: to be taken three times a day |first=J. K. |last=Crellin |page=39 |location=New York |publisher=Pharmaceutical Products Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0789018441}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=12810402 |title=Captain Cook's beer: the antiscorbutic use of malt and beer in late 18th century sea voyages |first=Brett J. |last=Stubbs |journal=Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition |volume=12 |issue=2 |date=June 2003 |pages=129–137}}</ref> The leaves and branches, or the essential oils, can be used to brew spruce beer.

In Finland, young spruce [[bud]]s are sometimes used as a spice, or boiled with sugar to create spruce bud syrup.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kadoksissa ollut juomaresepti löytyi – kuusenkerkästä tehdään muutakin kuin siirappia|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/kadoksissa_ollut_juomaresepti_loytyi__kuusenkerkasta_tehdaan_muutakin_kuin_siirappia/8926774|access-date=2021-08-08|website=Yle Uutiset|date=6 June 2016|language=fi}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Jyske T, Järvenpää E, Kunnas S, Sarjala T, Raitanen JE, Mäki M, Pastell H, Korpinen R, Kaseva J, Tupasela T |title=Sprouts and Needles of Norway Spruce (''Picea abies'' (L.) Karst.) as Nordic Specialty-Consumer Acceptance, Stability of Nutrients, and Bioactivities during Storage |journal=Molecules |volume=25 |issue=18 |pages=4187 |date=2020 |doi=10.3390/molecules25184187 |pmid=32932686 |pmc=7570650|doi-access=free }}</ref> In survival situations spruce needles can be directly ingested or boiled into a tea. This replaces large amounts of vitamin C. Also, water is stored in a spruce's needles, providing an alternative means of hydration {{Clarify|date=June 2009}}. Spruce can be used as a preventive measure for [[scurvy]] in an environment where meat is the only prominent food source {{Clarify|date=June 2009}}.

===Tonewood===
Spruce is the standard material used in [[sound board (music)|soundboard]]s for many [[stringed instrument]]s, including [[guitar]]s, [[mandolin]]s, [[cello]]s, [[violin]]s, [[piano]]s and [[harp]]s. Wood used for this purpose is referred to as '''[[tonewood]]'''. The soundboard/top of an [[acoustic guitar]] is often made of Sitka, Engelmann, Adirondack or European spruce, or alternatively of [[Thuja plicata|cedar]] wood.

===Other uses===
The [[resin]] was used in the manufacture of [[pitch (resin)|pitch]] in the past (before the use of [[petrochemical]]s); the scientific name ''Picea'' derives from [[Latin]] {{wikt-lang|la|picea}} "pitch pine" (referring to [[Scots pine]]),<ref>{{L&S|picea|pĭcĕa|ref}}</ref> from {{wikt-lang|la|piceus}}, an adjective from {{wikt-lang|la|pix}} "pitch".

[[Indigenous people of the Americas|Native Americans]] in [[North America]] use the thin, pliable roots of some species for weaving [[basket]]s and for sewing together pieces of [[birch]] bark for [[canoe]]s. See also [[Kiidk'yaas]] for an unusual golden Sitka Spruce sacred to the [[Haida people]].

Spruces are popular ornamental trees in [[horticulture]], admired for their evergreen, symmetrical narrow-conic growth habit. For the same reason, some (particularly ''Picea abies'' and ''P. omorika'') are also extensively used as [[Christmas tree]]s, with [[artificial Christmas tree]]s often being produced in their likenesses.

Spruce branches are also used at Aintree racecourse, Liverpool, to build several of the fences on the Grand National course. Spruce wood is also used to make sculptures.