Scientific name: Picea glauca (Moench) A.Voss 1907
Synonyms: Abies alba (Aiton) Michx., Abies alba var. caerulea J.Nelson, Abies alba var. nana Dicks. ex. Loudon, Abies alba var. nana Jacques, Abies alba var. virescens (R.Hinterh. & J.Hinterh.) Nyman, Abies arctica A.Murray bis, Abies canadensis Mill., Abies canadensis var. aurea J.Nelson, Abies coerulea Lodd. ex. J.Forbes, Abies laxa (Münchh.) K.Koch, Abies rubra var. violacea Loudon, Abies virescens R.Hinterh. & J.Hinterh., Picea acutissima Beissn., Picea alba Link, Picea alba var. foetida Penh., Picea alba var. pendula Carrière, Picea canadensis f. parva Vict., Picea canadensis var. albertiana Rehder, Picea canadensis var. glauca (Moench) Sudw., Picea canadensis var. pendula (Moench) C.K.Schneid., Picea coerulea (Lodd. ex. J.Forbes) Link, Picea glauca f. aurea (J.Nelson) Rehder, Picea glauca f. buxoides J.R.Schramm, Picea glauca f. caerulea (J.Nelson) Rehder, Picea glauca f. conica Rehder, Picea glauca f. glauca, Picea glauca f. nana (Jacques) Rehder, Picea glauca f. parva Fernald & Weath., Picea glauca var. pendula (Carrière) Hornibr., Picea laxa Sarg., Picea tschugatskoyae Carrière, Pinus abies var. alba (Jacques) Antoine, Pinus abies var. laxa Münchh., Pinus alba Aiton, Pinus alba var. arctica (A.Murray bis) Parl., Pinus alba var. nana (Jacques) Endl., Pinus canadensis Du Roi, Pinus canadensis var. alba Castigl. Pinus coerulea Lodd. ex. Loudon, Pinus glauca Moench, Pinus laxa (Münchh.) Ehrh., Pinus tetragona Moench, Pinus virescens Neilr.
Common names: White spruce, Canadian spruce, Skunk spruce (English), Épinette blanche (French)
Description
Tree to 30(-40) m tall, with trunk to 1 m in diameter. Bark becoming gray and more flaky with age, revealing reddish patches of new bark. Crown narrowly conical, sometimes extremely so, with gently rising branches, passing through horizontal and becoming gently depressed with age and bearing horizontal or gently drooping side branches. New branchlets yellowish to slightly reddish brown, usually hairless. Buds (3-)4-6 mm long, not resinous. Needles variably waxy (hence the scientific name) to give colors from bright green to intensely blue but usually dull grayish green, (1-)1.5-2(-2.5) cm long, straight or curved gently forward, square, with two to four lines of stomates on each side, sharp to blunt. Pollen cones 10-20 mm long, red. Seed cones (2.5-)3-6(-8) cm long, green before maturity, ripening medium brown. Seed scales round, thin but stiff and brittle. Seed body 2-4 mm long, the wing 5-8 mm longer.
All across northern North America from Alaska to Newfoundland south to northwestern Montana, the upper Great Lakes, the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York, and northern New England, with outliers in central Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Often forming pure stands but also mixed with other conifers or poplars (Populus balsamifers and Populus tremuloides) and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) in the boreal forest; 0-1,900 m.
Conservation Status
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
Picea glauca is assessed as Least Concern as they are the most widespread spruce in North America. Forms extensive forests.
This species is the major conifer in the vast Boreal Forest of North America; it occurs at elevations between 5 m and 1,900 m a.s.l. The soils are usually of fluvial or glacial origin, neutral or slightly acid and often podzolized. The climate is cold continental in much of its range, but cold maritime in the extreme east, the precipitation varies between 200 mm and 1,250 mm, the growing season between 25 and 160 days. It grows in pure stands or mixed with (sparse) Betula papyrifera, also with other conifers in various parts of the range; it invades successional stages with various northern broad-leaved trees
Stretching accross the northern part of the North American continent White spruce is a major Boreal timber resource. Its wood is strong and suitable for general construction timber as well as pulp wood; the latter is probably its major use because in many regions of its range sizes of trees are small in comparison to conifers growing further south. Log cabins in Alaska are often built with White spruce, with the bark left on the outside and moss put between the logs. High grade, straight and even-grained timber is used for indoor finishing and flooring, carpentry and joinery. Small volume uses are the manufacture of boxes, musical instruments (sounding boards) and canoe paddles. White spruce is planted as an amenity tree mainly in northern countries. In horticulture, southern provenances (var. albertiana = Picea albertiana) are more common and most of the dwarfed cultivars come from this source. Some dwarf cultivars originated from witches’ brooms and are particularly slow growing and suitable for rockeries.
This species is known from several protected areas across its range.
Cultivars
Picea glauca ‘4th Hand’
Picea glauca ‘Achat’
Picea glauca ‘Acutissima’
Picea glauca ‘Alberta Blue’
Picea glauca ‘Alberta Globe’
Picea glauca ‘Alberta Globe Rewersja’
Picea glauca ‘Alberta Globe Sport Tiny’
Picea glauca ‘Alberta Weeping’
Picea glauca ‘Albertiana Conica’
Picea glauca ‘Albertiana Glauca’
Picea glauca ‘Albertiana WB’
Picea glauca ‘Araucaria’
Picea glauca ‘Arneson Variegated’
Picea glauca ‘Arneson’s Blue Variegated’
Picea glauca ‘Aurea’
Picea glauca ‘Aureospicata’
Picea glauca ‘Aureovariegata’
Picea glauca ‘Baby’
Picea glauca ‘Barabits Blue’
Picea glauca ‘Bedgebury WB’
Picea glauca ‘Beehive’
Picea glauca ‘Biesenthaler Frühling’
Picea glauca ‘Bill Archer’
Picea glauca ‘Black Hills’
Picea glauca ‘Blue Planet’
Picea glauca ‘Blue Star’
Picea glauca ‘Blue Teardrop’
Picea glauca ‘Blue Wonder’
Picea glauca ‘Bluff’
Picea glauca ‘Bonnie’
Picea glauca ‘Berges’
Picea glauca ‘Boring Oregon’
Picea glauca ‘Borohrádek’
Picea glauca ‘Boyko’s WB Gelb’
Picea glauca ‘Boyko’s WB Iseli’
Picea glauca ‘Brevifolia’
Picea glauca ‘Broom Nomo’
Picea glauca ‘Burke W. B.’
Picea glauca ‘Burning Well’
Picea glauca ‘Butterball’
Picea glauca ‘Canadensis’
Picea glauca ‘Cecilia’
Picea glauca ‘Cementario’
Picea glauca ‘Cinderella’
Picea glauca ‘Cleveland Road’
Picea glauca ‘Coerula’
Picea glauca ‘Coerula Hendersonii’
Picea glauca ‘Coerula Hudsonii’
Picea glauca ‘Compacta’
Picea glauca ‘Compacta Dwarf Typ’
Picea glauca ‘Compacta Fritsche’
Picea glauca ‘Compacta Gracilis’
Picea glauca ‘Compressa’
Picea glauca ‘Conica’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Albertiana’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Baby’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Blue’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Compacta Rewersja’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Elegans Compacta’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Fastigiata’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Gelb’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Globulosa’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Gnom’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Gracilis Compacta’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Karany’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Laurin’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Mutation’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Picolo’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Pygmy’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Sport Jaune’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Sport Litomyšl’
Picea glauca ‘Conica Sport Malík’
Picea glauca ‘Conica WB E #15’
Picea glauca ‘Cupido’
Picea glauca ‘Cy’s Wonder’
Picea glauca ‘D Cashins’
Picea glauca ‘Daisy White’
Picea glauca ‘Daisy’s White’
Picea glauca ‘Daisy’s White 1 WB’
Picea glauca ‘Daisy’s White Sport 2’
Picea glauca ‘Daisy’s White 3 WB’
Picea glauca ‘December’
Picea glauca ‘Del Val’
Picea glauca ‘Delp’s Compact’
Picea glauca ‘Delp’s Dwarf’
Picea glauca ‘Delval’
Picea glauca ‘Dendrofarma Gold’
Picea glauca ‘Densata’
Picea glauca ‘Densata Edel WB’
Picea glauca ‘Densata Raymond’
Picea glauca ‘Dent’
Picea glauca ‘Dent PG’
Picea glauca ‘Dick North’
Picea glauca ‘Dixie Dust’
Picea glauca ‘Draht’
Picea glauca‘Ducharme’
Picea glauca ‘Duck Pond’
Picea glauca ‘Duchackove’
Picea glauca ‘Dunetta’
Picea glauca ‘Eagle Rock’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis Albovariegata’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis Balatka’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis Glauca’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis Globosa’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis Kubiczek’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis Sport’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis Variegata’
Picea glauca ‘Echiniformis zu Jeddeloh’
Picea glauca ‘Ed Hurle’
Picea glauc ‘Elegans Compacta’
Picea glauca ‘Elegans Compacta’
Picea glauca ‘Elf’
Picea glauca ‘Ericoides’
Picea glauca ‘Fastigiata’
Picea glauca ‘Frühling’s Gold’
Picea glauca ‘Fort Ann’
Picea glauca ‘Fuiri Ogon’
Picea glauca ‘Gelbnadlig’
Picea glauca ‘Girard’s Monstrosa Nana’
Picea glauca ‘Glauca Fastigiata’
Picea glauca ‘Glenwood’
Picea glauca ‘Globe’
Picea glauca ‘Globosa’
Picea glauca ‘Globulosa’
Picea glauca ‘Gnom’
Picea glauca ‘Gnome’
Picea glauca ‘Gold Tip’
Picea glauca ‘Golden Form’
Picea glauca ‘Goldilocks’
Picea glauca ‘Gracilis’
Picea glauca ‘Gracilis Compacta’
Picea glauca ‘Greg’s Variegated’
Picea glauca ‘Haal’
Picea glauca ‘HB’
Picea glauca ‘HB Tiny’
Picea glauca ‘Heartland Metz’
Picea glauca ‘Helena’
Picea glauca ‘Helzger’
Picea glauca ‘Hendersonii’
Picea glauca ‘Hexe’
Picea glauca ‘Hexenbesen 1’
Picea glauca ‘Hexenbesen 2’
Picea glauca ‘Hexenbesen 3’
Picea glauca ‘Hexenbesen Uwe’
Picea glauca ‘Hillside’
Picea glauca ‘Hillside Dwarf’
Picea glauca ‘Hirthals Gelbnadelig’
Picea glauca ‘Hnĕvkovice’
Picea glauca ‘Hobbit’
Picea glauca ‘Holata’
Picea glauca ‘Hradec Králové’
Picea glauca ‘Hudsonii’
Picea glauca ‘Humilis’
Picea glauca ‘Humpty Dumpty’
Picea glauca ‘Intermedia’
Picea glauca ‘Intermedia’
Picea glauca ‘Iseli Witches’ Broom’
Picea glauca ‘Ity Bity’
Picea glauca ‘Ivan’
Picea glauca ‘Jacqueline Van Hulle’
Picea glauca ‘Jake Harrison’
Picea glauca ‘Jean’s Dilly’
Picea glauca ‘Jone’s Flat Top’
Picea glauca ‘Jones’
Picea glauca ‘Jozef Rys’
Picea glauca ‘Julian Pott’s Monstrosa’
Picea glauca ‘J. W. Daisy White’
Picea glauca ‘Kalouš Pygmy’
Picea glauca ‘KBN Variegated’
Picea glauca ‘Ken’s Variegated’
Picea glauca ‘Ketch Harbor’
Picea glauca ‘Kluis’
Picea glauca ‘Kohout’
Picea glauc ‘Ksawerów’
Picea glauca ‘Lace’
Picea glauca ‘Laurin’
Picea glauca ‘Laurin Malík’
Picea glauca ‘Laurin Mutation’
Picea glauca ‘Laurin Pirna’
Picea glauca ‘Laurin Rewersja’
Picea glauca ‘Laurin Sport’
Picea glauca ‘Lilliput’
Picea glauca ‘Linwood’
Picea glauca ‘Little Gem’
Picea glauca ‘Little Globe’
Picea glauca ‘Little Steve’
Picea glauca ‘Little Tim’
Picea glauca ‘Litomyšl’
Picea glauca ‘Mac Gold’
Picea glauca ‘Mac Golden’
Picea glauca ‘Mac’s Golden’
Picea glauca ‘Manger Kaliště’
Picea glauca ‘Maquoketa’
Picea glauca ‘McConnell’s’
Picea glauca ‘Mészáros’
Picea glauca ‘Metzger’
Picea glauca ‘Millstream Broom’
Picea glauca ‘Miniform’
Picea glauca ‘Minima’
Picea glauca ‘Minima Židovice’
Picea glauca ‘Minitip’
Picea glauca ‘Monstrosa’
Picea glauca ‘Monstrosa Nana’
Picea glauca ‘Morton Arboretum Weeping’
Picea glauca ‘Morton Tower’
Picea glauca ‘Mylan’
Picea glauca ‘Nana’
Picea glauca ‘Nana Compacta’
Picea glauca ‘Nana Glauca’
Picea glauca ‘Nashua’
Picea glauca ‘North Star’
Picea glauca ‘Novak’
Picea glauca ‘Ore’
Picea glauca ‘Paleček’
Picea glauca ‘Pardubičky’
Picea glauca ‘Parva’
Picea glauca ‘Pendula’
Picea glauca ‘Piccolo’
Picea glauca ‘Picolo Rewersja’
Picea glauca ‘Pinsapoides’
Picea glauca ‘Piti Piti’
Picea glauca ‘Pixie’
Picea glauca ‘Pixie Dust’
Picea glauca ‘Pixie Type’
Picea glauca ‘Plava Planeta’
Picea glauca ‘Procumbens’
Picea glauca ‘Pygmy’
Picea glauca ‘Pyramidalis Compacta’
Picea glauca ‘Rainbow’s End’
Picea glauca ‘Reath’s Witches’ Broom’
Picea glauca ‘Rel Dwarf’
Picea glauca ‘Rita’
Picea glauca ‘Rys’
Picea glauca ‘Saint Joseph’
Picea glauca ‘Sander’s Alberta’
Picea glauca ‘Sander’s Blue’
Picea glauca ‘Sander’s Blue Sport’
Picea glauca ‘Sander’s Fastigiate’
Picea glauca ‘Sandy’s Gold’
Picea glauca ‘Scotia Spider’
Picea glauca ‘Sestagek’
Picea glauca ‘Short & Sweet’
Picea glauca ‘Saphir’
Picea glauca ‘Skippack’
Picea glauca ‘Sleeping Giant’
Picea glauca ‘Snake Globe’
Picea glauca ‘South Bluff Compact’
Picea glauca ‘Sport’
Picea glauca ‘Spring Giant WB’
Picea glauca ‘Spring Surprise’
Picea glauca ‘Springdale’
Picea glauca ‘Spruce Lane’
Picea glauca ‘Stalagmit’
Picea glauca ‘Stanley Mt.’
Picea glauca ‘Stanley Pygmy’
Picea glauca ‘Star Light’
Picea glauca ‘Stiff Weeping’
Picea glauca ‘Stopka’
Picea glauca ‘Tabuliformis’
Picea glauca ‘Terry’s Variegated’
Picea glauca ‘Thomson’
Picea glauca ‘Tiny’
Picea glauca ‘Tiny Temple’
Picea glauca ‘Tiny’s Mini’
Picea glauca ‘Tomszak’
Picea glauca ‘Údolíčko’
Picea glauca ‘UMD Duluth 09’
Picea glauca ‘Unnamed Jerry Morris Selection’
Picea glauca ‘Vanillaice’
Picea glauca ‘Varhost’
Picea glauca ‘Variegatospicata’
Picea glauca ‘W. Dawnee’
Picea glauca ‘Waconda’
Picea glauca ‘Walaszczyk’
Picea glauca ‘Wanderslaben’
Picea glauca ‘WB Jay’
Picea glauca ‘West Danville #2’
Picea glauca ‘Weston’
Picea glauca ‘Wild Acres’
Picea glauca ‘Will's Zwerg’
Picea glauca ‘Wintergrün’
Picea glauca ‘Witches’ Broom’
Picea glauca ‘Witchbroom Andre’
Picea glauca ‘Wörlitzensis’
Picea glauca ‘Xawery’
Picea glauca ‘Yukon Blue’
Picea glauca ‘Zajiček’
Picea glauca ‘Zamrzla’
Picea glauca ‘Zuckerstein’
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.