TREES of BC Sitka spruce Engelmann spruce Black spruce (Picea sitchensis) (Picea engelmannii) (Picea mariana) Bark Bark Bark The bark is very thin, brown or The bark is loose, scaly, and The bark is thin, scaly purplish grey, and breaks up reddish-brown to grey. and dark greenish- into small scales. brown. Leaves Leaves Leaves Needles are light green to bluish-green, stiff, and Needles are four-sided and sharp, but not Needles are blue-green, short, stiff, and four-sided. sharp. They are four-sided but slightly flattened particularly stiff. They are deep bluish-green The needles are arranged in all directions along with two white bands running along the upper with two white bands on both the upper and the twig or mostly pointing upwards. surface and two narrower bands along the lower lower surfaces. The needles are arranged in all surface. The needles are arranged spirally along the directions on the twigs. Cones twig and are attached by small pegs which remain Seed cones are small and purplish. The old cones on the twig after the needles fall. Cones hang on the tree for several years. Pollen cones Seed cones are yellow to purplish-brown and hang are dark red. Cones from the upper branches. Their papery seed scales Seed cones are reddish- to yellowish-brown and are tapered at both ends and have a ragged outer Habitat hang from the crown. Their seed scales are thin, edge. Pollen cones are most commonly yellow to Black spruce grows throughout the northern part wavy, and irregularly toothed. Pollen cones are red. purplish-brown. of the province and tolerates poor growing conditions. It often occurs in pure groups of trees Habitat Habitat or with Lodgepole pine and White spruce. It is In coastal forests, Sitka spruce is found from low Engelmann spruce is an interior species that frequently found in cold, poorly drained areas, to high/mid elevations, growing with Western commonly occurs with Subalpine fir in areas such as swamps and bogs, along with sphagnum hemlock, Western redcedar, and Yellow-cedar. with long, cold winters and short, cool summers. mosses, horsetails, lingonberry, and Labrador tea. The forest floor is often thick with mosses, and It grows best on deep, rich soils with adequate horsetails, blueberries, and deer fern. moisture. In drier areas, Engelmann spruce grows Black spruce forests are rich in wildlife. Moose, with Lodgepole pine. On wetter sites, huckleberries, muskrat, and mink are numerous and many birds 70 m white-flowered rhododendron, and Sitka valerian eat the abundant insects in these wet, boggy areas. commonly occur. 50 m Sitka Spruce Engelmann spruce Black Spruce 20 m Produced by the BC National Forest Week Coalition For more information, please visit: bcnfw.ca.