Scientific Name:
Picea mariana
Pronunciation:
PYE-see-uh mar-ee-AY-nuh
Common Name:
black spruce
Family Name:
Pinaceae
Plant Type:
Conifer
Key ID Features:
Branches short and drooping, frequently layering; twigs not pendent, rather slender, yellow-brown, pubescent; needles 0.6-1.5(-2)cm, 4-sided, rigid, pale blue-green, glaucous, bearing stomates on all surfaces, apex mostly blunt-tipped; seed cones 1.5-2.5(-4)cm long, scales fan-shaped, broadest near the irregularly toothed apex, 8-12 x 8-12mm, dark purple ripening purple-brown; seedlings with 3-5 cotyledons. Conifers.org
Habit:
Upright
Form:
Columnar, Pyramidal - narrowly
Texture:
Medium - fine
Mature Height:
10 - 15m
Mature Spread:
4 - 5m
Growth Rate:
Slow
Origin:
North America
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 2: (-46 to -40 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Acidic, Bog
Landscape Uses:
Forestry
Additional Info:
Google. Cultivars shown may include P. 'Aureovariegata'.
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Needle-like
Arrangement:
Spiraled
Texture/Venation:
Leathery
Surfaces:
Glabrous
Colour in Summer:
Bluish, Dark-green
Shapes:
Acicular
Apices:
Aristate
Bases:
Truncate
Margins:
Entire
Additional Info:
Broad, 1cm long, stiff, blunt, 4-sided, on peg-like base. Juvenile lvs. slender, no teeth.
Inflorescence Type:
Flower Morphology:
Monoecious plant
Colour (petals):
No flowers
Flower Time at Peak:
Fruit Type:
Fruit Colour:
Brown
Fruiting Time:
Bark Morphology:
Plated
Bark or Stem Colour:
Grey, Brown
Organ Modifications:
Ectomycorrhizae
Propagation:
Seed
Pest Susceptibility:
Canker or sap rot, Root rot, Rust
