Picea pungens
Picea abies
blue spruce, Colorado blue spruce, pino real, épinette bleue
Norway spruce, épinette de norvège
gray-brown.
gray-brown, scaly.
slightly to strongly drooping;
twigs not pendent, stout, yellow-brown, usually glabrous.
short and stout, the upper ascending, the lower drooping;
twigs stout, reddish brown, usually glabrous.
dark orange-brown, 6–12mm, apex rounded to acute.
reddish brown, 5–7mm, apex acute.
1.6–3cm, 4-angled in cross section, rigid, blue-green, bearing stomates on all surfaces, apex spine-tipped.
1–2.5cm, 4-angled in cross section, rigid, light to dark green, bearing stomates on all surfaces, apex blunt-tipped.
cones (5–)6–11(–12)cm;
scales elliptic to diamond-shaped, widest below middle, 15–22 × 10–15mm, rather stiff, margin at apex erose, apex extending 8–10mm beyond seed-wing impression.
cones (10–)12–16cm;
scales diamond-shaped, widest near middle, 18–30 × 15–20mm, thin and flexuous, margin at apex erose to toothed, apex extending 6–10mm beyond seed-wing impression.
=24.
=24.
Picea pungens
Picea abies
Limited hybridization occurs between Picea pungens and P. engelmannii (R.Daubenmire 1972; R.J. Taylor et al. 1975).
Blue spruce (Picea pungens) is the state tree of Colorado (as Colorado blue spruce) and Utah.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Norway spruce, native to Europe, has become locally naturalized, at least in north central United States (and adjacent Canada). The species is the most widely cultivated spruce in North America; many cultivars exist, including dwarf shrubs.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
PNW Herbaria
SW CO Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
MN Wildflowers
