- Picea pungens
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Picea pungens 
Foliage and young cones Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae Genus: Picea Species: P. pungens Binomial name Picea pungens
Engelm.
Picea pungens (Colorado Blue Spruce or Blue Spruce) is a species of spruce native to western North America, from southeast Idaho and southwest Wyoming, south through Utah and Colorado to Arizona and New Mexico. It grows at high altitudes from 1,750–3,000 m (5,740–9,800 ft) altitude, though unlike Engelmann Spruce in the same area, it does not reach the alpine tree-line. It is most commonly found growing along stream sides in mountain valleys, where moisture levels in the soil are greater than the often low rainfall in the area would suggest.[1][2][3]
Contents
Description
Blue spruce is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 25–30 m (82–98 ft) tall, exceptionally to 46 m (151 ft) tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). The bark is thin and gray, with narrow vertical furrows. The crown is conic in young trees, becoming cylindric in older trees. The shoots are stout, orange-brown, usually glabrous, and with prominent pulvini.
The leaves are needle-like, 15–30 millimetres (0.59–1.2 in) long, stout, rhombic in cross-section, dull gray-green to bright glaucous blue (very variable from tree to tree in wild populations), with several lines of stomata; the tip is viciously sharp.[1][2][4]
The cones are pendulous, slender cylindrical, 6–11 cm (2.4–4.3 in) long and 2 cm (0.79 in) broad when closed, opening to 4 cm (1.6 in) broad. They have thin, flexible scales 20–24 mm (0.79–0.94 in) long, with a wavy margin. They are reddish to violet, maturing pale brown 5–7 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long, with a slender, 10–13 mm (0.39–0.51 in) long pale brown wing.[1][2]
Distribution and habitat
Native and widely occurring in the montane zone of the central and southern Rocky Mountains. Commonly planted as an ornamental. [5]
Taxonomy
Subspecies and hybrids
Blue spruce does not normally hybridize with other spruces, though hybrids with Engelmann Spruce have been found very rarely.[2]
Culture
The blue spruce is the State Tree of Utah and Colorado.[6]
Gallery
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Mature cone
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Immature cone
References
- ^ a b c Farjon, Aljos (1990). Pinaceae: Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera. Koeltz Scientific Books. 121. Koenigstein, Germany. ISBN 3-87429-298-3.
- ^ a b c d "Flora of North America: Picea pungens". Efloras.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500912. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ Conifer Specialist Group (1998). "Picea pungens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/42333. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ Christopher J. Earle, ed (June 23, 2009). "Picea pungens". Gymnosperm Database. http://www.conifers.org/pi/pic/pungens.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ Barnes, Burton V.; Warren J. Wagner Jr. (September 15, 1981). Michigan Trees: A Guide to the Trees of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region. Biological Science Series. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0472080182.
- ^ "State Trees & State Flowers". United States National Arboretum. June 11, 2009. http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/statetreeflower.html. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
External links
Categories:- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Picea
- Trees of the Western United States
- Trees of Colorado
- Trees of Utah
- Flora of the Rocky Mountains
- Symbols of Colorado
- Symbols of Utah
- Least concern flora of the United States
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