Blue Spruce
Picea pungens
Pine family (Pinaceae)

Colorado Blue Spruce is the state tree of Colorado and Utah and is found in magnificent stands in the mountainous parts of both states and in the Rockies of Idaho, Arizona, and New Mexico. The range of Colorado Blue Spruce is more limited than that of Engelmann Spruce (which reaches to the Pacific Coast and into western Canada). Because of its beautiful color and lovely symmetry, Colorado Blue Spruce is frequently planted as an ornamental in many parts of North America. The ornamentals are bred for the blue-green color, often not present in wild specimens. New growth is most likely to be blue-green. Colorado Blue Spruce and Engelmann Spruce are very similar and are often difficult to tell apart. George Engelmann, St. Louis doctor and highly respected botanist, named and described Picea pungens in 1879. The first authenticated collection of this tree was by Charles Parry in 1862 on Pikes Peak; Parry sent some of these collections to his friend Engelmann. The 17 year delay in assigning the Picea pungens name was due to an interesting story of misidentification and more sophisticated classification of Conifers (see www.swcoloradowildflower.com for more).

Description

Coniferous tree with overall pyramidal shape. May reach 80-100' tall. Needles 1-1.5" long, green to blue-green, sharp rigid, almost spine-tipped. Needles square in cross-section (won't roll between fingers) and arranged spirally from twigs. Twigs are covered with distinctive raised pegs causing twig to feel and appear rough. Upper branches slant upward, middle branches spread horizontally, and lower branches droop. Main truck often with small branches that give a ragged appearance. Seed cones 2.5-4" long with scale tips narrow and ragged.

Field Marks

Green to blue-green needles, stiff and sharp-tipped, square in cross-section; twigs with raised pegs, cones 3+ inches long at top of trees.

© Al Schneider