In
Picea glauca
, the White Spruce, supernumerary, B chromosomes were found in 48 out of 51 North American populations investigated. The B chromosomes are of two kinds. The more common (B1) is metacentric. The other (B2) has a subterminal centromere. Giemsa staining at metaphase shows no trace of constitutive heterochromatin in B chromosomes, yet at interphase the B chromosomes are heteropycnotic. It is argued that the capacity for heterochromatization of the B chromosomes at interphase may be associated with gene inactivation as in the X chromosomes of female mammals. B2 is found in western regions only, i. e. west of the 95th meridian. B1 is found in both western and eastern regions but its frequency varies substantially among populations. In general there is a reduction in B frequency from east to west in both western and eastern regions of North America. Experimental results support the view that such variation is adaptive and, in part at least, caused by the differential mortality of plants with and without B chromosomes in particular environments. Evidence is presented which indicates that B2 was introduced into White Spruce following hybridization with Engelmann Spruce.