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| Twisted black spruce on the Glenn Highway. |
Black spruce trees are a symbol of the boreal forest and taiga of the great north. There are more acres of taiga than any other type of ecological forest in the world. Even though most people have never seen the taiga. Black spruce grow in poor soil, with an underlayment of permanently frozen ground -- or "permafrost." These spruce are tiny; they're twisted, and thin, and don't seem to follow the rules that trees should follow.
