Scientific Name: Picea sitchensis
Common Name: Sitka spruce
Family Name: Pinaceae
Origin: B.C. west of Cascades, U.S. - northwest
Hardiness Zone: Zone 7: (-18 to -12 °C)
Plant Type: Conifer
Mature Size: > 30m x 10 - 15m (height x width)
Habit: Dense, Upright
Form: Pyramidal - widely
Texture: Medium
Landscape Uses: Forestry, Specimen plant, Tall background, Wind break
Exposure: Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil or Media: Acidic, Well-drained
Leaves: Needle-like, Spiraled, Leathery, Prickly, Lustrous, Acicular, Entire
Flowers: n/a (male cone), Yellow, Apr-May
Fruit: Cone (winged seeds), Brown, Aug-Sep-Oct
Key ID Features:
Needles flattened to broadly triangular in cross section with lower surface rounded or slightly angular (not as 4-sided as most other spruce species), sharply pointed, most bluish-green, 2 thin white bands underneath, whorled singly around shoots, (1.2)1.5-2.5(3)cm long; seed cones cylindrical, green or reddish, ripening pale buff to light orange-brown, pendant from ends of twigs, opening at maturity and falling soon after, 5-9(-10)cm long. <a href ='https://www.conifers.org/pi/Picea_sitchensis.php' target='_blank'>Conifers.org</a>