WHITE SPRUCE
picea glauca

• also known as Canadian Spruce, Eastern Spruce, Black Hills Spruce, Skunk Spruce, Cat Spruce, Engelmann Spruce

UNIQUE FEATURES:

• large tree with a narrow crown
• often confused with the Engelmann Spruce
• known as Interior Spruce in the central Interior where it interbreeds with Engelmann Spruce
• twigs have no hairs
• is shallow rooted so can be easily blown over
• downed trees are perfect breeding sites for the spruce beetle which can kill hectares of mature trees

LOCATION:

• found through the interior of British Columbia
• grows from seal level to mid-elevations
• only pure species grows north of Dawson Creek
• can grow in a variety of environments
• often found with lodgepole pine, subalpine fir, aspen, birch and willow

SIZE:

• can grow up to 40 metres in height and 1 metre in diameter

CONES:

• seed cones - light brown, purplish; scales are rounded and smooth; open when dry
• pollen cones - pale red

NEEDLES:

• four sided
• stiff and sharp
• arranged spirally on twigs
• distinctive odor; foul when young but pleasant when older

BARK:

• scaly
• greyish-brown

WOOD CHARACTERISTICS:

• important commercial use

USES:

• modern - lumber, pulp
• traditional - saplings: snowshoe frames, bows; resin: glue to fasten skins onto bows and arrowheads onto shafts; decayed wood: tanning hides; bark: baskets, cooking pots, trays

QUICK/EASY ID (identification) for WHITE SPRUCE

• cones: smooth
• needles: square, smelly, spikey, stiff, spiral arrangement (on twigs)
• bark: scaly