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Jan 12, 2021 · All of the conifers in Northeast / Midwest America can be roughly categorized by the 4 types of needles. These needles are pretty easy to distinguish from each other. I explain further in the...
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- Burly Beaver
Nov 10, 2023 · Spruce needles are not just for show; they carry essential clues to a tree's identity. Each species, marked by its Latin name, exhibits unique needle traits. Let's delve into what to observe: Needle Length: Ranges from less than half an inch to over an inch and a half, varying by species.
Jul 24, 2017 · One of the best ways to tell if you are looking at a spruce tree or a fir tree is to simply look at and feel the needles. Both trees are evergreen conifers, which means that they will have needles all year long.
- Exploring Spruce Tree Varieties – 18 Types and How to Recognize Them
- Spruce Tree Identification
- Growing Spruce Trees
- Spectacular Spruces
- Interesting Facts About Spruce Trees
1. Colorado Blue Spruce
Colorado Blue Spruce is probably the most well-known spruce in the world, certainly in North America, where it is often planted as a landscape specimen in parks, gardens, etc. There are more cultivars of this species than any other spruce tree. They are tall or medium-sized trees with a broadly conical crown and gray-brown scaly or irregularly grooved bark. Branches are slightly to strongly descending. The stout, usually hairless yellow-brown twigs are not pendent. Winter buds are dark orange...
2. Fat Albert Colorado Blue Spruce
The Fat Albert Colorado Spruce is a popular cultivar created from the Colorado Blue Spruce and, as such, shares most of the same common features. It has a naturally dense pyramidal growth form and is a popular choice as a Christmas tree or for gardens and landscapes. It has bold silver-blue leaves and dense branches that grow to ground level and extend horizontally from the trunk. It is a slow-growing, smaller tree, making it a good choice for smaller landscapeswhere you want to fill bare cor...
3. Engelmann Spruce
Engelmann Spruce has a narrow pyramidal to spirelike form and short, compact horizontal branches with ascending or descending tips. It does not self-prune and, in forests, has dead lower branches, while open-grown trees grow to near ground level. It is the most common high-elevation spruce in the Rocky Mountains, where it forms krummholz shrubs at the tree line. Bluish-green leaves are four-sided and acute-tipped but not sharp-pointed, 0.8 – 1.2” long, with two broad bands of stomata on the l...
How to Tell a Spruce From Other Pinaceae
The Picea genus can usually be distinguished from the other members of the Pinaceae family (pines, true firs, Douglas Fir, hemlocks, etc.) by their sharp needle-like leaves that are attached to the tree via a stalk-like pulvinus or widening of the leaf base. The pulvinus looks a lot like a leaf stalk and is often described as peg-like because of its usually woody appearance. Other members of the family attach to the branches and twigs with their own unique form of attachment. Pine trees attac...
Identifying Spruce Trees by Pulvinus
The pulvinus on spruce trees looks similar to a petiole or leaf stalk, though it usually appears woodier and peg-like. Sometimes it can look more similar to a Douglas Firpetiole than the woody pulvini typically seen in spruce. As a result, you may also need to use other identification tools. When the leaves fall off, the woody pulvini typically remain attached to the branches creating a rougher appearance than is seen in most other members of the Pinaceae family.
Identifying Spruce Trees by Leaves
The leaves of spruce trees are arranged spirally around the twigs and are not flattened into rows like those of true firsor hemlocks often are. Sometimes the leaves will be directed forwards, or sometimes less radially spreading on the lower side, but they are always radially arranged overall. The leaves are also typically four-sided and can be rolled in your fingers, while those of pine, firs (true and Douglas),and hemlocks typically do not. Note, however, that there are exceptions to those...
If you want to plant a spruce tree, you will be rewarded for your effort because these beautiful trees, once established, require little to no maintenance. It is, however, important to do a little research to ensure success. In addition to understanding the USA Planting Zones, you must check your chosen tree’s soil, light, and moisture requirements...
Importance to Wildlife
Spruce trees are used as food plants by the larvae of some native Lepidoptera (moth and butterfly) species. They are also commonly used by the larvae of gall adelgids (Adelges spp) of the Hemiptera order. These create interesting growths at branch tips that are sometimes mistaken for cones. Spruce seeds are eaten by numerous birds, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. In Alaska and British Columbia, the leaves of Sitka Spruce make up about 90% of the winter diet of Blue Grouse. Spruce provides excellen...
Human Uses
Spruce trees are valued for their lumber and are heavily relied upon in northern climates, where they are more abundant than most other common lumber trees. Many species have very high strength-weight ratios and are used for turbine blades, sailboat masts, boats, ladders, and oars, as well as musical equipment, lumber, and plywood. Poorer-quality trees are frequently used in the pulp and paper industry. Long ago, spruce leaves were used to make spruce beer and consumed by sailors as a source...
In Sweden, scientists found a Norway Spruce, nicknamed Old Tjikko, which has been reproducing through layering. Using layering, it is now 9,550 years old and is the world’s oldest spruce tree, even though the original tree from which it came is long gone. It is also the world’s fourth-oldest clonal tree. The coastal Sitka Spruce is the world’s tall...
- Sitka Spruce. The Sitka spruce is native to North America’s West Coast where it can be found on mountainsides throughout Alaska down to Oregon. Also known as “the queen of the forest,” this tree can grow up to 200 feet tall and has a trunk diameter of up to 8 feet.
- White Spruce. The white spruce is a widespread North American species that grows from Newfoundland and Labrador west to British Columbia and as far south as Minnesota and West Virginia.
- Black Spruce. The black spruce is a widespread North American species that is native to the boreal forest regions of Canada and the Northern United States.
- Engelmann Spruce. The Engelmann spruce is a widespread North American species that is native to the Rocky Mountains and adjacent ranges from Alberta to New Mexico.
In this video I would like to show you longitudinal and cross section of blue spruce needle under a microscope (100x-625x). The blue spruce (Picea pungens), also commonly known as green...
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Jul 28, 2017 · Pine trees, spruce trees, and fir trees are all evergreen and have needles. At first glance the needles may all appear similar, but take a closer look. This first test will help you know if it is a pine tree or not. Look at how these needles from a Pine tree are in clusters where they attach. Photo via Flickr.
