This is the most common spruce growing in the Rockies. The genus name is derived from the Latin work pix meaning “pitch” in reference to the sticky resin typically found in spruce bark. The species honors George Engelmann, a 19th century German doctor and botanist from St. Louis.

Specimen Provenance:

Common name: Engelmann Spruce, Engelmann Blue Spruce, Rocky Mountain White Spruce

Species Origin: Western North American from British Columbia to New Mexico

New Jersey Status: USDA Unreported

Habit: Medium to large tree, 80 – 120’ tall x Bole 1 ½ – 3’ diameter. Straight-stemmed, narrowly conical, spire-like.

Habitat: Zone 2 -5.

Trunk/Stem: Branches spreading horizontally to drooping. Twigs stout and yellow-brown and only finely hairy. Bark is thin and broken into large purplish brown to russet-red thin loosely attached scales.

Leaves: Evergreen, needle-like. Needles, four sided, ¾”, gray-bluish-green,white bands below; flexible sharply pointed and prickly (not flat). Camphor like scent when crushed some interpret as rank.

Flowers:

Fruits and seeds: Cones 2 ¼” long; scales thin pointed, irregularly toothed; green-red becoming pale orange brown.