Colorado Spruce Seeds 25 Count Picea pungens Colorado Spruce, Pioneer Spruce, Mountain Spruce, False Blue Spruce, True Blue Spruce Description: Large tree with blue-green foliage and a conical crown of stout, horizontal branches in rows. Height: 70-100' (21-30 m). Diameter: 1 1/2-3' (0.5-0.9 m). Needles: evergreen; spreading on all sides of twig from very short leafstalks; 3/4-1 1/8 (2-2.8 cm) long. 4-angled, sharp-pointed, stiff; with resinous odor when crushed; dull blue-green or bluish, with whitish lines. Bark: gray or brown; furrowed and scaly. Twigs: yellow-brown, stout, hairless, rough, with peglike leaf bases. Cones: 2 1/4-4"" (6-10 cm) long; cylindrical, mostly stalkless, shiny light brown; cone-scales long, thin, and flexible, narrowed and irregularly toothed; paired, long-winged seeds. Habitat: Narrow bottomlands along mountain streams; often in pure stands. Range: Rocky Mountain region from S. and W. Wyoming and E. Idaho south to N. and E. Arizona and S. New Mexico; at 6000-11,000' (1829-3353 m). Planting Requirements - Colorado Spruce prefers moist, acidic soils that may be organic, sandy, or loamy; the soils must not be poorly drained or wet. It is also adaptable to a variety of less than favorable conditions, including poor, clay, rocky, dry soils of acidic, neutral, or alkaline pH. It survives under seasonal drought once it is established, and takes well to city pollution. It grows in full sun to partial sun in zones 3 to 7. Discussion: Cultivated varieties of Blue Spruce include several with dramatic bluish-white and silvery-white foliage. It is a popular Christmas tree and is also used in shelterbelts. Native to the Colorado and Utah regions of the United States, the Colorado spruce can reach up to 40 meters high and live to approximately 600 years old. Its striking foliage, bluish in color, adds to the aesthetic value of the tree, and is one of the reasons why a large number of Colorado spruces have been grafted for propagation. The Colorado spruce requires very little water and atmospheric moisture. In fact, it is often found on dry, chalky soils. Nevertheless, this spruce species is able to adapt to a variety of soils. It is mainly used for landscaping. Colorado Spruce, native to regions of the Rocky Mountains in the western and southwestern United States, is planted throughout the United States and Canada as an ornamental evergreen, including all of Ohio. Although it is commonly seen in forms that display blue or blue-silver needles, green-needled forms also exist. Many selections have been made for both foliage color and growth habit, the latter of which may be dwarf, weeping, broad, columnar, or formally pyramidal into maturity. Tree forms are not usually limbed up, but allowed to branch to the ground throughout their life. Most trees may easily reach 50 feet tall by 25 feet wide at the base, although in the wild much taller specimens are commonly reached. Perhaps no other evergreen tree is as cherished for home landscapes as Blue Spruce, its more common name in the nursery industry. As a member of the Pine Family, it is related to other Spruces, as well as the Firs, Larches, Pines, and Hemlocks. Colorado Spruce is monoecious, with male flowers scattered throughout the canopy serving a source of pollen for the female flowers (immature cones).This spruce has cones that are different from the other spruces (upper right), as they have flaky scales that are thin and flexible, rather than stiff and rigid (as with all evergreens, various structures can have the whitish sap drip on them, including the cones that are shown). Mature bark of Colorado Spruce is often never seen, as this tree is usually allowed to branch to the ground throughout its life. The bark tends to be gray to brown, with moderate ridges and flakes that become thin plates with age. There are many forms of Colorado Spruce in terms of growth habit - these include dwarf globes that serve as landscape shrubs, weeping forms that cascade, and narrow columns that serve as evergreen accents. ""
