White Spruce
 

Mature Size, Growth, Longevity

Average mature size of 40-60' tall and 10-20' wide, some varieties are much shorter. Can grow 70-130' tall and 30' wide in nature. A broad, dense pyramid shape when young, then becoming more tall, narrow and dense, forming a spire with age. Medium growth rate, 1-2' per year. Long lived. Attains age of 250-300 years.

Native Range

U.S. Native — Native Labrador to Alaska, south to Montana, Wyoming, Arkansas, Minnesota, and New York. Often found on stream banks, lake-side slopes, growing out of rocky crevices, or in thin, limited-soil areas. Forms large forests in Canada. Introduced in 1700.

Flower and Fruit Details

Flowers are monoecious, male pale red becoming yellow, female purple, late May. Fruits in cylindrical cones, light brown, pendulous, 1-2.5" long, and 0.5-0.75" thick, green to tan/brown, and finally silver/gray.

Leaf and Bark Features

Evergreen: Evergreen needles pale green/dull blue-green, glaucous, grayish-green, 1/2-3/4" long, stiff and sharp to the touch, 4-sided, w/ 2-5 bands of stomata on each side, with a fetid or aromatic odor if crushed. Much variation in needle color from green to blue. Bark is thin, flakey or scaly, ashy gray-brown. Freshly exposed layer is somewhat silvery. Bark is often thin-scaled, silvery-gray,

Culture and Care

Transplants readily. Makes its best growth on moist loam or alluvial soils, in full sun, but tolerant of some shade. Zone 2-6. This is one of the most tolerant spruces, tolerating wind, heat, cold and drought. Likes foggy, moist atmospheric conditions. Often grows in moist, gravelly soils. Tolerates wet soils and flooding better than most spruces. Tolerates acid or alkaline soils, pH 4.6-8.0. Susceptible to trunk and root rot, spruce bagworm, European sawfly and spider mites.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts

Tolerant to air borne salt water spray. Especially attractive in the spring, when the new, light green growth tips contrast in color with the older, inner, darker green glaucous needles of previous years. Good wildlife value. 4-season interest: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Late spring freezes can damage emerging tender shoot tips. Plantsman and author, Michael Dirr, considers this to be one of the 5 best spruces for general landscape use in the Midwest, East, and Upper South.

Suggested Uses

Use as a specimen tree, in mass plantings, hedges and windbreaks.

Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA