Picea glauca
Common name:
White Spruce
Canadian Spruce
Skunk Spruce
Pronunciation:
PI-see-a GLAW-ka
Family:
Pinaceae
Genus:
Type:
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Conifer, evergreen tree, to 80 ft (24 m), tall and narrow in age. Needles straight, stiff, 15-22 mm long, green to bluish-green, quadrangular in cross-section, 2-5 stomatal bands on each surface; unpleasant odor when crushed. Cones cylindrical, slender, 3-6 cm long.
- Sun, but tolerates some shade. Tough, withstands wind, heat, cold, drought, and crowding; can be used as hedge. Often found at the arctic tree line.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 2 Native range from Alaska to Labrador, south into Montana, Minnesota, and New York.
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A few cultivars:
- 'Conica' - (Dwarf Alberta Spruce) shrub, dwarf, 10-12 ft (3-4 m), slow growing, become broadly conical with time
- 'Densata' - (P. g. var. densata) evergreen tree, 20-40 ft (6-12 m), symmetrical, compact, slow growing, needles may range from bright green to bluish green
- 'Pendula' - weeping form, branches very pedulous, densely branched, blue-green needles
- 'Sander's Blue' - conical shape, similar to ‘Conica’, slow growing (4 x 2 ft, in 10 years), foliage patchy blue-green
- glauca: glaucous (covered with a waxy bloom that rubs off readily), the leaves
Click image to enlarge
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plant habit
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plant habit, in a landscape
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branchlets, needles
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branchlets and cones
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needles and cones
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branchlets and cone
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developing and mature cones
