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Picea pungens

Common name:	Blue Spruce	Family:	Pinaceae
Author:	Engelm.	Botanical references:	11, 82, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-western N. America - Rocky Mountains.
Habitat:	Banks of streams or on first benches above them, singly or in small groves, 2000 - 3300 metres[82].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	P. pungens f. argentea[G] P. pungens f. glauca[G] P. pungens var. glauca[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Blauwe Spar [D], Blue Spruce [DEN1,B,P,FEIS,L], Colorado Blue Spruce [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	pungens = spiny, pungent
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Pinales. Pine family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen tree growing to 20m by 5m at a medium rate. It is hardy to zone 3. It is in leaf all year, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The scented flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure. It cannot tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy.

Edible Uses

Flowers Inner bark Seed Tea.

Young male catkins - raw or cooked. Used as a flavouring[172].
Immature female cones - cooked. The central portion, when roasted, is sweet and syrupy[172]. The cones are about 7cm long[82].
Inner bark - dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickener in soups etc or added to cereals when making bread[172]. An emergency food, it is only used when all else fails.
Seed - raw[172]. The seed is about 2 - 4mm long[229]. It is rich in fats and has a pleasant slightly resinous flavour but is too small and fiddly to be worthwhile unless you are desperate[172, K].
A refreshing tea, rich in vitamin C, can be made from the young shoot tips[172].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Shelterbelt Wood.

A fairly wind resistant tree, it can be grown as part of a shelterbelt planting[200].
Wood - light, soft, close grained, weak, brittle and often full of knots[82, 171, 229]. The wood has little commercial value[226], but is used for construction[82] and is also valued for its use in the pulp industry to make paper[171].

Cultivation details

Likes abundant moisture at the roots, if grown in drier areas it must be given a deep moist soil[11]. Tolerates poor peaty soils[200]. Prefers a cold dry high mountain site[200]. Succeeds in wet cold and shallow soils but is not very wind-firm in shallow soils[1]. Resists wind exposure to some degree[200]. This species has a deeply penetrating root system that firmly anchors the tree against winds[229]. Prefers a pH between 4 to 6[200]. Dislikes shade[200]. Intolerant of atmospheric pollution[11].
A long-lived but slow-growing tree in the wild, with specimens 800 years old recorded[229]. It is planted as a timber tree in N. and C. Europe[50]. Most trees in Britain are grafted and these are slow growing[185]. The few trees of seedling origin tend to be fairly fast growing after a slow start[185]. Annual increases of 30 - 40cm are not uncommon in some of the larger trees.
Trees should be planted into their permanent positions when they are quite small, between 30 and 90cm. Larger trees will check badly and hardly put on any growth for several years. This also badly affects root development and wind resistance[200].
Seed production is usually good, with heavy crops every 2 - 3 years[229].
In some upland areas, especially over granitic or other base-poor soils, growth rate and health have been seriously affected by aluminium poisoning induced by acid rain[200].
Plants are strongly outbreeding, self-fertilized seed usually grows poorly[200]. They hybridize freely with other members of this genus[200].
There are several named forms, selected for their ornamental value[188].
Trees are very subject to severe damage by aphids in mild winter areas where temperatures do not regularly fall below -8° c[200].
All parts of the plant emit a powerful pungent smell when bruised[245].

Propagation

Seed - stratification will probably improve germination so sow fresh seed in the autumn in a cold frame if possible[80]. Sow stored seed as early in the year as possible in a cold frame[78]. A position in light shade is probably best[78]. Seed should not be allowed to dry out and should be stored in a cool place[80]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse or cold frame for their first winter. They can be planted out into their permanent positions in early summer of the following year, or be placed in an outdoor nursery bed for a year or so to increase in size. They might need protection from spring frosts.
Cuttings of semi-ripe terminal shoots, 5 - 8cm long, August in a frame. Protect from frost. Forms roots in the spring[78].
Cuttings of mature terminal shoots, 5 - 10cm long, September/October in a cold frame. Takes 12 months[78].
Cuttings of soft to semi-ripe wood, early summer in a frame. Slow but sure.

Scent

Plant: Crushed: All parts of the plant emit a powerful pungent smell when bruised[245].

Cultivars

'': There are some named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos) from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for the family Pinaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[80] McMillan-Browse. P. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. Grower Books 1985 ISBN 0-901361-21-6
Does not deal with many species but it is very comprehensive on those that it does cover. Not for casual reading.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[185] Mitchell. A. F. Conifers in the British Isles. HMSO 1975 ISBN 0-11-710012-9
A bit out of date (first published in 1972), but an excellent guide to how well the various species of conifers grow in Britain giving locations of trees.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[226] Lauriault. J. Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ontario. 1989 ISBN 0889025649
Very good on identification for non-experts, the book also has a lot of information on plant uses.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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