Scientific name: Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelmann 1863
Synonyms: Abies commutata (Parl.) Gordon, Abies engelmannii Parry, Abies engelmannii var. glauca R.Sm., Abies nigra Engelm., Picea columbiana (Lemmon) Beissn., Picea columbiana Lemmon, Picea engelmannii f. argentea Beissn., Picea engelmannii f. fendleri (A.Henry) Rehder, Picea engelmannii f. glauca (R.Sm.) Beissn., Picea engelmannii f. microphylla Hesse ex. Beissn., Picea engelmannii f. pendula Schelle, Picea engelmannii var. columbiana (Lemmon) Beissn., Picea engelmannii var. engelmannii WFO descriptions, Picea engelmannii var. fendleri A.Henry, Picea engelmannii var. franciscana Lemmon, Picea engelmannii var. glabra Goodman, Picea engelmannii var. typica Goodman, Picea glauca subsp. engelmannii (Parry ex. Engelm.) T.M.C.Taylor, Picea glauca var. engelmannii (Parry ex. Engelm.) B.Boivin, Pinus commutata Parl.
Common names: Engelmann spruce, Silver spruce, White spruce, Mountain spruce
Description
Tree to 50(-60) m tall, or a spreading shrub above the alpine timberline, with trunk to 2(-2.5) m in diameter. Bark remaining flaky with age to uncover reddish brown patches beneath the generally gray exterior. Crown conical, flattening at the top with age, with densely spaced tiers of gently rising branches bearing horizontal side branches. New branchlets pale yellowish brown, usually finely hairy. Buds 3-6 mm long, a little resinous. Needles yellowish green to bluish green with wax, 1.5-3(-5) cm long, straight or curved gently forward, square, with (one or) two or three stomatal lines on each side, pointed but not prickly. Pollen cones 10-15 mm long, red. Seed cones (2.5-)3-6(-8) cm long, reddish green before maturity, ripening greenish brown. Seed scales round or cutoff diamond-shaped, thin and flexible. Seed body 2-3 mm long, the wing about 7-10 mm longer.
The species name honors George Engelmann (1809 - 1884), a physician and botanist in St. Louis, Missouri, who undertook pioneering studies in North American cacti and yuccas as well as of conifers.
Central British Columbia south in the Cascade Rangers to northwestern California and in the Rocky Mountains to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico. Forming pure stands or mixed with subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) and less commonly with other conifers in subalpine forest and extending above timberline as a low shrub; (600-)1,000-3,700(-4,000).
Conservation Status
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
Picea engelmannii is one of the most widespread and abundant conifers in North America and is therefore assessed as Least Concern.
Picea engelmannii is widespread in the Rocky Mountains, from 600 m to 3700 (-4000) m a.s.l., the upper limit progressively higher from N to S. It grows on various mountain soils, both calcareous and non-calcareous. The climate is cold and humid (precipitation above 600 mm annually), with long, snowy winters and short, cool summers. The species forms extensive pure forests or mixed coniferous forests, with Abies lasiocarpa, Pinus spp., Pseudotsuga menziesii, Larix occidentalis, or Picea glauca as most common associated species.
Large scale logging of this species in Canada and parts of the NW USA may have removed this spruce from some areas in the past, but better management allowing regeneration is now common forestry practice. Its enormous geographical range and abundance especially in the northern Rocky Mountains are considered safeguards against potential hazards such as windfall following inappropriate clear cutting, insect pests and fires.
Engelmann spruce is an important timber tree with a high yield potential especially in managed stands within its native range. Its knotty wood is not of very high grade, but nevertheless increasingly used for home building, carpentry, furniture, plywood, and specialist uses such as musical instruments (pianos, violins). Uses for mining timber, railroad sleepers, and telephone poles have declined and mass production is now directed to the pulp wood industry, especially in western Canada. Here massive clear-cut operations still bare whole mountainsides regularly. This species is rarely planted as an ornamental, although it will grow well even on poor soils, and only a few cultivars are known in the trade. Spruces are not much in use as Christmas trees in North America, unlike in Europe where they are the commonest genus for this purpose.
This species is present in many protected areas, including famous national parks within the USA and Canada.
Cultivars
Picea engelmannii ’#7 Broom’
Picea engelmannii ’#8 Broom’
Picea engelmannii ’#140’
Picea engelmannii ’Argentea’
Picea engelmannii ’Argyrophylla’
Picea engelmannii ’Banff’
Picea engelmannii ’Battle Pass’
Picea engelmannii ’Berthoud’
Picea engelmannii ’Berthoud Falls # 2’
Picea engelmannii ’Berthoud Falls # 3’
Picea engelmannii ’Berthoud Falls # 4’
Picea engelmannii ’Birds’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Angel’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Bough’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Cheops’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Harbor’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Magoo’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Moon’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Shimmer’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Softie’
Picea engelmannii ’Blue Vail’
Picea engelmannii ’Bluhm’s Pyramid’
Picea engelmannii ’Bravo’
Picea engelmannii ’Bridger’
Picea engelmannii ’Buckskin’
Picea engelmannii ’Burl’
Picea engelmannii ’Burl Ives’
Picea engelmannii ’Bush’s Lace’
Picea engelmannii ’Candida’
Picea engelmannii ’Cascade’
Picea engelmannii ’Chaco’
Picea engelmannii ’Chago’
Picea engelmannii ’Chief’
Picea engelmannii ’Cienega’
Picea engelmannii ’Cloudseeker’
Picea engelmannii ’Collectors P’
Picea engelmannii ’Columbiana’
Picea engelmannii ’Compacta’
Picea engelmannii ’Crossroad’
Picea engelmannii ’Daylight’
Picea engelmannii ’Dazzie # 52’
Picea engelmannii ’Deacon’
Picea engelmannii ’Ding Dong’
Picea engelmannii ’Domschke’
Picea engelmannii ’Duf’
Picea engelmannii ’Dwarf #31’
Picea engelmannii ’Eagle’
Picea engelmannii ’Elmo’
Picea engelmannii ’Encampment’
Picea engelmannii ’Englebroom’
Picea engelmannii ’Engy’
Picea engelmannii ’Fendleri’
Picea engelmannii ’Franzi #66’
Picea engelmannii ’Frisco’
Picea engelmannii ’Fritsche’
Picea engelmannii ’Galactic’
Picea engelmannii ’Glauca’
Picea engelmannii ’Glauca Hesse’
Picea engelmannii ’Glauca Pendula’
Picea engelmannii ’Glauca Virgata’
Picea engelmannii ’Good Sport’
Picea engelmannii ’Grandby’
Picea engelmannii ’Guanela’
Picea engelmannii ’HB Kohout’
Picea engelmannii ’Heike #67’
Picea engelmannii ’Hexenbesen Jasper’
Picea engelmannii ’Hexenbesen Kohout’
Picea engelmannii ’Hidaway’
Picea engelmannii ’Hobo’
Picea engelmannii ’Hold Up’
Picea engelmannii ’Hoodie’
Picea engelmannii ’Itsahoney’
Picea engelmannii ’J. Morris Selection’
Picea engelmannii ’Jaspar’
Picea engelmannii ’Jasper’
Picea engelmannii ’Jerry Morris Selection’
Picea engelmannii ’Kataka’
Picea engelmannii ’Kate Brook Nursery Blue’
Picea engelmannii ’Ketchum’
Picea engelmannii ’Kohout’s Dwarf Seedling’
Picea engelmannii ’Labda’
Picea engelmannii ’Lace’
Picea engelmannii ’Lil Barb’
Picea engelmannii ’Li’l Sister’
Picea engelmannii ’Little Barb’
Picea engelmannii ’Lobo’
Picea engelmannii ’Low B. Hi’
Picea engelmannii ’Low B. Low’
Picea engelmannii ’Lucky Charm’
Picea engelmannii ’Microphylla’
Picea engelmannii ’Mini RD Tree’
Picea engelmannii ’Missy Tree’
Picea engelmannii ’Missy Broom’
Picea engelmannii ’Mistoya Canyon’
Picea engelmannii ’Moninurensis’
Picea engelmannii ’MPH Golyó’
Picea engelmannii ’MPH Nefertiti’
Picea engelmannii ’MPH Vízcsepp’
Picea engelmannii ’Mutt’
Picea engelmannii ’Newcastle’
Picea engelmannii ’Nicola’
Picea engelmannii ’Noémi’
Picea engelmannii ’Noland’
Picea engelmannii ’Patty Wade’
Picea engelmannii ’Pendula’
Picea engelmannii ’Persana’
Picea engelmannii ’Pinkham’
Picea engelmannii ’Pocahontas’
Picea engelmannii ’Prickly Pete’
Picea engelmannii ’Promise #68’
Picea engelmannii ’Pungens’
Picea engelmannii ’Reggear Blue’
Picea engelmannii ’Reggear Dwarf’
Picea engelmannii ’Reggear Bluest’
Picea engelmannii ’Reggear Short’
Picea engelmannii ’Reggear Special’
Picea engelmannii ’Reggear Thick’
Picea engelmannii ’Riverside’
Picea engelmannii ’Schovenhorst’
Picea engelmannii ’Snake’
Picea engelmannii ’Snowslide’
Picea engelmannii ’Squaw Delight’
Picea engelmannii ’Squaw Pass’
Picea engelmannii ’Squaw Pass Low’
Picea engelmannii ’St. Ladislaus’
Picea engelmannii ’Stanley Mountain’
Picea engelmannii ’Swan Creek’
Picea engelmannii ’Talbot Lake’
Picea engelmannii ’Tiny’
Picea engelmannii ’Tiny Bird’
Picea engelmannii ’Tiny Eng’
Picea engelmannii ’Tiny Squaw’
Picea engelmannii ’Thomschke’
Picea engelmannii ’Topsy’
Picea engelmannii ’Trout’
Picea engelmannii ’Tulendeena’
Picea engelmannii ’Turvy’
Picea engelmannii ’U. Turn’
Picea engelmannii ’Vanderwolf’s Blue Pyramid’
Picea engelmannii ’Virgata’
Picea engelmannii ’Waldorf # 61’
Picea engelmannii ’Waldorf # 62’
Picea engelmannii ’Waldorf # 63’
Picea engelmannii ’Warrior’
Picea engelmannii ’Wee Joy’
Picea engelmannii ’Weston # 1’
Picea engelmannii ’Weston # 2’
Picea engelmannii ’Weston # 3’
Picea engelmannii ’Weston Sprite’
Picea engelmannii ’Whipsnap’
Picea engelmannii ’White River’
Picea engelmannii ’Windy’
Picea engelmannii ’Windy Ridge’
Picea engelmannii ’Wrangler’
References
- Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
- Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland
Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.
