White spruce
- Latin name: Picea glauca (Moench) Voss
- French name: Épinette blanche
- Synonym(s): Canadian spruce cat spruce , pasture spruce , skunk spruce
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 183295
Description
Leaves
Form
- Straight, stiff
- Unpleasantly pungent when crushed
- Tip pointed but not sharp
Length
- 15–22 mm
Colour
- Green to bluish-green
- Lines of white dots on all sides
Buds
Form
- Ovoid, blunt-pointed
- Non-resinous
- Scales tight-fitting, margins ragged, curled out
- Outer scales shorter than the bud
Length
- 6 mm
Twigs
Form
- Hairless
- Leaf cushions rounded, grooves open
- Twigs of seedlings may be hairy
Colour
- Shiny, light greenish-grey, often tinged with orange or purple
Seed cones (mature)
Form
- Slender, cylindrical
- Blunt-tipped
- Stalkless
Length
- 3–6 cm
Colour
- Scales light brown
Structure
- Scales thin, tough
- Flexible, close-fitting
- Outer margin rounded, smooth
- Mature open cones easily compressed but scales do not break
Timing
- Cones open in late summer
- Seeds released from later summer to spring
Seeds
Length
- Seed 2–4 mm
- Seed wing 4–8 mm
Bark
Form
- Smooth, thin when young
- Becoming scaly with age
Colour
- Light grey when young, becoming darker grey with age
- Newly exposed bark salmon pink, silvery
Wood
Uses
- Wood pulp, lumber
- Planted for landscape and reforestation
Size
Height
- To 25 m
Diameter
- To 60 cm, occasionally larger
Maximum age
- 200 years
Tree form
Forest-grown
Crown
- Broadly conical
- Ragged, irregular, densely foliated
- Spire-like in northern parts of its range
- Principal branches bushy, generally horizontal, sometimes sloping downward in the lower part of the crown
- Tips gradually upturned
Root system
- Shallow, with many tough, pliable, wide-spreading branch roots
Habitat
Site
- Grows on a variety of soils and under a wide range of climatic conditions
- In eastern Canada, invades abandoned farmland
- Often found at the arctic tree line
Light tolerance
- Shade-tolerant
Associated species
- Trembling aspen, white birch, black spruce, and balsam fir
Range
Throughout Canada except the Pacific Coast
Photos
Photos
Anthony Scullion
Anthony Scullion
Anthony Scullion
Anthony Scullion
Insects and mites
Insects that cause damage to this tree.
-
Pales weevil
Scientific name: Hylobius pales (Herbst)
-
Spruce beetle
Scientific name: Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kirby)
Cones or seeds
- Enypia venata (Grote)
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Fir coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria abietivorella (Grote)
-
Orange spruce needleminer
Scientific name: Coleotechnites piceaella (Kearfott)
-
Spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)
-
Spruce coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe
-
Spruce seed moth
Scientific name: Cydia strobilella Linnaeus
-
Two-year cycle spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura occidentalis biennis (Freeman)
Flowers, fruits, or seeds
-
Orange spruce needleminer
Scientific name: Coleotechnites piceaella (Kearfott)
-
Spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)
-
Spruce coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe
Foliage or buds
-
Balsam fir sawfly
Scientific name: Neodiprion abietis (Harris)
- Coleotechnites atrupictella (Dietz)
-
Cooley spruce gall adelgid
Scientific name: Adelges cooleyi (Gillette)
-
Dioryctria moth
Scientific name: Dioryctria pseudotsugella Munroe
-
Douglas-fir bud moth
Scientific name: Zeiraphera hesperiana (Mutuura & Freeman)
-
Eastern blackheaded budworm
Scientific name: Acleris variana (Fernald)
-
Eastern spruce gall adelgid
Scientific name: Adelges abietis (Linnaeus)
- Enypia venata (Grote)
-
European spruce sawfly
Scientific name: Gilpinia hercyniae (Hartig)
- Feralia comstocki Grote
-
Filament bearer
Scientific name: Nematocampa resistaria (Herrich-Schaffer)
-
Fir coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria abietivorella (Grote)
-
Fir needle inchworm
Scientific name: Eupithecia lariciata (Frey.)
-
Gelechiid moth
Scientific name: Chionodes continuella (Zeller)
-
Gray spruce looper
Scientific name: Caripeta divisata Walker
-
Green larch looper
Scientific name: Semiothisa sexmaculata (Packard)
-
Green spruce aphid; spruce aphid
Scientific name: Elatobium abietinum (Walker)
-
Green velvet looper
Scientific name: Epirrita autumnata (Harrison)
-
Greenheaded spruce sawfly
Scientific name: Pikonema dimmockii Cresson
-
Greenstriped forest looper
Scientific name: Melanolophia imitata (Walker)
-
Hemlock looper
Scientific name: Lambdina fiscellaria (Guenée)
- Hydriomena irata Swett
-
Larch pug moth
Scientific name: Eupithecia annulata (Hulst)
-
Lodgepole terminal weevil
Scientific name: Pissodes terminalis (Hopping)
-
Orange spruce needleminer
Scientific name: Coleotechnites piceaella (Kearfott)
- Pero behrensaria (Packard)
-
Pero moth
Scientific name: Pero morrisonaria (Hy. Edwards)
-
Pine measuringworm moth
Scientific name: Hypagyrtis piniata (Pack.)
-
Pine needle sheathminer
Scientific name: Zelleria haimbachi Busck
-
Pine tussock moth
Scientific name: Dasychira grisefacta (Dyar)
- Promylea lunigerella Ragonot
- Protoboarmia porcelaria (Guenee)
-
Purplestriped shootworm
Scientific name: Zeiraphera unfortunana Powell
-
Redlined conifer caterpillar
Scientific name: Feralia jocosa (Gn.)
-
Saddleback looper
Scientific name: Ectropis crepuscularia (Denis and Schiffermuller)
-
Small pine looper
Scientific name: Eupithecia palpata Pack.
-
Speckled green fruitworm
Scientific name: Orthosia hibisci (Guenée)
-
Spruce bud moth
Scientific name: Zeiraphera canadensis Mutuura and Freeman
-
Spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)
-
Spruce climbing cutworm
Scientific name: Syngrapha alias (Ottolengui)
-
Spruce coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe
-
Spruce fir looper
Scientific name: Macaria signaria dispuncta (Walker)
-
Spruce needleworm, Paler dolichomia moth
Scientific name: Dolichomia thymetusalis (Walker)
-
Spruce spider mite
Scientific name: Oligonychus ununguis (Jacobi)
-
Spruce tip moth; redstriped needleworm
Scientific name: Epinotia radicana (Heinr.)
-
Spruce webspinning sawfly
Scientific name: Cephalcia fascipennis (Cresson)
- Synaxis pallulata (Hulst)
- Syngrapha celsa (Henry Edwards)
- Thallophaga hyperborea (Hulst)
-
Threelined larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx luteipes (Cresson)
-
Two-year cycle spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura occidentalis biennis (Freeman)
-
Western blackheaded budworm
Scientific name: Acleris gloverana (Walsingham)
-
Western hemlock looper
Scientific name: Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa (Hulst)
-
Western larch sawfly
Scientific name: Anoplonyx occidens Ross
-
White pine weevil
Scientific name: Pissodes strobi (Peck)
-
White slaut
Scientific name: Tetracis cachexiata (Guenée)
-
Whitelined looper
Scientific name: Epirrita pulchraria (Taylor)
-
Whitetriangle leafroller
Scientific name: Clepsis persicana (Fitch)
- Xestia mustelina (Smith)
-
Yellowheaded spruce sawfly
Scientific name: Pikonema alaskensis (Rohwer)
-
Yellowlined forest looper
Scientific name: Cladara limitaria (Walker)
- Zeiraphera vancouverana McDunnough
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Diseases caused by pathogens
Diseases caused by pathogens that cause damage to this tree.
Black stain root disease
Pathogen name: Grosmannia wageneri (Goheen & F.W. Cobb) Zipfel, Z.W. Beer & M.J. Wingf.
-
Black stain root disease
Pathogen name: Grosmannia wageneri (Goheen & F.W. Cobb) Zipfel, Z.W. Beer & M.J. Wingf.
-
Brown cubical sap rot
Pathogen name: Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulfen: Fr.) P. Karst.
- Comatricha typhoides (Bull.) Rostr.
-
Spruce needle cast (Lophodermium piceae)
Pathogen name: Lophodermium piceae (Fckl.)
Cones or seeds
-
Brown felt blight
Pathogen name: Herpotrichia juniperi (Duby) Petr.
-
Inland spruce cone rust
Pathogen name: Chrysomyxa pirolata G. Wint. in Rabenh.
-
Large-spored spruce – Labrador tea rust
Pathogen name: Chrysomyxa ledicola (Peck) Lagerh.
-
Sirococcus Shoot Blight
Pathogen name: Sirococcus conigenus (Dc.) Cannon & Minter
Foliage or buds
Small-spored spruce-Labrador tea rusts
Pathogen names:
- Chrysomyxa nagodhii P.E. Crane
- Chrysomyxa neoglandulosi P.E. Crane
-
Brown felt blight
Pathogen name: Herpotrichia juniperi (Duby) Petr.
-
Large-spored spruce – Labrador tea rust
Pathogen name: Chrysomyxa ledicola (Peck) Lagerh.
-
Needle cast (Lirula macrospora)
Pathogen name: Lirula macrospora (R. Hartig) Darker
-
Sirococcus Shoot Blight
Pathogen name: Sirococcus conigenus (Dc.) Cannon & Minter
-
Small-spored spruce-Labrador tea rusts
Pathogen names:
- Chrysomyxa nagodhii P.E. Crane
- Chrysomyxa neoglandulosi P.E. Crane
-
Snow blight
Pathogen name: Phacidium infestans P. Karst
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Annosus root and butt rot (Heterobasidion irregulare)
Pathogen name: Heterobasidion irregulare (Underw.) Garbel. & Otrosina
Annosus root and butt rot (Heterobasidion occidentale)
Pathogen name: Heterobasidion occidentale Otrosina & Garbel
White butt rot - White laminated rot
Pathogen name: Ceriporiopsis rivulosa (Berk. & Curtis) Gilb. & Ryvarden
Distribution map
