European Pinaceae ! widely cultivated Picea abies ! naturalized Norway spruce Sight ID characteristics • Pendulous, rope-like branches • Leaves with rounded apex, not prickly • Large seed cones (4-8” long) with notched, lobed, or pointed scales – not rounded 41 NOTES AND SKETCHES 42 Pinaceae Picea engelmannii Engelmann spruce Sight ID characteristics • Subalpine zone in Cascades and northern Rockies • Sharp, blue-green, square leaves • Twigs distinctly puberulent to pubescent • Seed cones ca. 2” long, scales with erose margins, brown 43 NOTES AND SKETCHES 44 Pinaceae Picea pungens blue spruce Sight ID characteristics • Subalpine zone in central Rockies • Bark furrowed on mature trees – not scales • Sharp, blue-green, square leaves • Twigs glabrous • Seed cones ca. 2.5”-4” long, scales with erose margins, yellow-brown 45 NOTES AND SKETCHES 46 Pinaceae Picea sitchensis Sitka spruce Sight ID characteristics • Largest spruce – only found along northern Pacific coast with 30 miles of ocean • Sharp, distinctly flattened leaves (triangular in X-section) - green above, blueish below, • Seed cones ca. 2”-3.5” long, scales with erose margins, bracts " as long as scales 47 NOTES AND SKETCHES 48 Pinaceae Picea glauca white spruce Sight ID characteristics • Boreal species from sea level to 4,000# • Leaves glaucous with stomatal bands above and below, apex acute, but not sharp, upswept • Twigs glabrous • Seed cones ca. 1.25”-2.5” long, scales rounded with entire margins (not erose), bract longer than wide 49 NOTES AND SKETCHES 50 Pinaceae Picea mariana black spruce Sight ID characteristics • Smallish tree, boreal but wet/boggy sites • Leaves blunt on mature foliage, generally shorter, blue-green, square leaves • Twigs distinctly puberulent to pubescent with mix of acute and capitate hairs • Seed cones short (to 1.25” long), scales with erose margins, suspended from thick stalk and persistent for many years. 51 NOTES AND SKETCHES 52.