Red spruce
- Latin name: Picea rubens Sarg.
- French name: Épinette rouge
- Synonym(s): Eastern spruce he-balsam , yellow spruce
- Taxonomic Serial Number: 18034
Description
Leaves
Form
- Curved, blunt-pointed
- Needles pointing forward, often pressed close to the twig
Length
- 10–16 mm
Colour
- Shiny yellowish-green
- Lines of faint white dots usually present on all sides
Buds
Form
- Conical
- Shiny or slightly resinous
- Outer scales hairy, narrow, with long slender points projecting beyond the tip of the bud
Colour
- Chestnut-brown
Twigs
Form
- Hairs on twig narrowly conical
- In the 2nd year, leaf-cushions rounded
- Grooves V-shaped
Colour
- Shiny, yellow or yellowish-orange, with a brown stain at the base of the leaf-peg
- In the 2nd year, reddish-brown
Seed cones (immature)
Form
- Ovoid, blunt-pointed
Structure
- Scales stiff, lightly striated
- Margin firm, smooth or slightly rough
Seed cones (mature)
Form
- Abruptly tapered to a very short stalk
- Open cones broadly ovoid
Length
- 3–5 cm
Colour
- Rich chocolate-brown
Structure
- Scales wide-spreading, easily separated from the axis
Timing
- Cones open in autumn, usually shed during the following year
Seeds
Length
- Seed 2 mm
- Seed wing 3–5 mm
Colour
- Seed dark brown
Bark
Form
- Shredded when young, separating into scales or plates with age
- Dark and furrowed at maturity
Colour
- Reddish-brown, becoming reddish-black with age
- Newly exposed bark dull yellow or reddish-brown
Size
Height
- To 25 m, occasionally larger
Diameter
- To 60 cm
Maximum age
- 300 years
Tree form
Forest-grown
Crown
- Broadly conical, rather open
- Principal branches about 3 m long in the lower part of the crown, with a flat non-bushy appearance, sloping downward
- Tips abruptly upturned
Habitat
Site
- Mature forests on moist upland sites
- In Ontario and Quebec, found on cool moist sites such as north-facing slopes and lake shores
Light tolerance
- Very shade-tolerant, surviving as an understory tree for many years
Associated species
- Eastern white pine, balsam fir, eastern hemlock, yellow birch, and sugar maple
Range
Maritime provinces, southward into the Appalachian Mountains of the United States; present but uncommon in south-central Ontario and in Quebec north of the St. Lawrence River
Photos
Photos
Anthony Scullion
Insects and mites
Insects that cause damage to this tree.
-
Spruce beetle
Scientific name: Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kirby)
Cones or seeds
-
Fir coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria abietivorella (Grote)
-
Spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)
-
Spruce coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe
Flowers, fruits, or seeds
-
Spruce budworm
Scientific name: Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)
-
Spruce coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe
Foliage or buds
- Coleotechnites atrupictella (Dietz)
-
Eastern blackheaded budworm
Scientific name: Acleris variana (Fernald)
-
European spruce sawfly
Scientific name: Gilpinia hercyniae (Hartig)
-
Fir coneworm
Scientific name: Dioryctria abietivorella (Grote)
-
Green larch looper
Scientific name: Semiothisa sexmaculata (Packard)
-
Pero moth
Scientific name: Pero morrisonaria (Hy. Edwards)
-
Pine leaf adelgid
Scientific name: Pineus pinifoliae (Fitch)
-
Pine measuringworm moth
Scientific name: Hypagyrtis piniata (Pack.)
- Protoboarmia porcelaria (Guenee)
-
Purplestriped shootworm
Scientific name: Zeiraphera unfortunana Powell
-
Small pine looper
Scientific name: Eupithecia palpata Pack.
-
Spruce bud scale
Scientific name: Physokermes piceae (Schr.)
-
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 spider mite
Scientific name: Oligonychus ununguis (Jacobi)
-
Spruce webspinning sawfly
Scientific name: Cephalcia fascipennis (Cresson)
-
White slaut
Scientific name: Tetracis cachexiata (Guenée)
-
Whitetriangle leafroller
Scientific name: Clepsis persicana (Fitch)
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Diseases caused by pathogens
Diseases caused by pathogens that cause damage to this tree.
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
-
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
-
Brown cubical sap rot
Pathogen name: Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wulfen: Fr.) P. Karst.
Cones or seeds
-
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
- Chrysomyxa nagodhii P.E. Crane
- Chrysomyxa neoglandulosi P.E. Crane
-
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
-
Spruce broom rust
Pathogen name: Chrysomyxa arctostaphyli Dietel
Roots, bark, stem or trunk, or branches
Brown cubical butt and pocket rot of cedar
Pathogen name: Oligoporus sericeomollis (Romell) Bondartseva
Pitted sap rot
Pathogen name: Trichaptum abietinum (Dicks.) Ryvarden (Common names for this fungus: purple conk fungus, purple-toothed polypore)
Schweinitzii butt rot
Pathogen name: Phaeolus schweinitzii (Fr.) Pat. (Common names for the fungus: velvet-topped polypore, dyer’s polypore)
Distribution map
