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You
can easily
identify blue spruce by the distinctive blue
needles. The blue
color has, no doubt, made this tree one of the most popular ornamental
trees. Although the color is variable from gray-green to
blue, the ornamentals are nearly always selected for the blue coloring.
Like other spruces, the needles stand on small pegs.
Where it grows:
Throughout the central and southern Rocky Mountains, above 5700 feet
(2000 meters) but not at the timberline. It is the state tree of Colorado and Utah.
Blue spruce at Hoyt Arboretum.
Similar Trees: Engelmann spruce is
similar, but lacks the blue color of blue spruce. Although it is not
common, Engelmann spruce can hybridize with blue spruce.
Names: Pungens
means "sharp" or "pointed" in
Latin. Other names: Colorado blue spruce.
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