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| ## engelmann spruce {#engelmann-spruce .Title-Header}                 |
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| *Picea engelmannii* Parry ex Engelmann                                |
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| Plant Symbol = PIEN                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of
North America Program

### ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.6979166666666665in" height="4.0465277777777775in"}

## Alternate common names 

Silver spruce, white spruce, mountain spruce, Columbian spruce

## Uses

The wood of Engelmann spruce is light-colored, relatively soft, low in
resin, and sometimes contains many knots and is more valuable for pulp
than for high-grade lumber. It has been used for home construction,
pre-fabricated wood products, and plywood manufacture. Less commonly it
is used for specialty items such as food containers, and sounding boards
for violins, pianos, and guitars. Engelmann spruce is widely used for
Christmas trees. Spruce beer was sometimes made from its needles and
twigs and taken to prevent scurvy. The Engelmann spruce--subalpine fir
forest association occupies the greatest water-yielding areas in the
Rocky Mountains and the natural adaptations of these trees are important
in maintaining stable vegetation.

## Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

## Description

*General*: Pine Family (Pinaceae). These are native trees growing to 60
meters tall, the crown dense and narrowly conic or spire-like. Branches
spreading horizontally to somewhat drooping, the lower often persistent
(not strongly self-pruning); twigs not pendent, rather stout,
yellow-brown. Bark usually reddish- to purplish-brown and thin scaly.
Needles are evergreen, borne singly from all sides of the twig, 1.6-3
(-3.5) cm long, 4-angled, stiff and sharp-pointed, blue-green. Seed
cones are violet to deep purple, ripening buff-brown, ellipsoid,
pendent, mostly 3-6 cm long, the cone scales relatively small, papery,
and flexible, remaining intact after cones fall from the tree. Ssp.
*mexicana* differs from the typical ssp. in its lighter (gray) bark,
narrower needles (1-1.2 mm wide) and its narrower and slightly larger
cones (4.5-8 cm long) and longer cone scales (4-6 mm), although the
measurements are overlapping. Named for physician and botanist George
Engelmann.

*Variation within the species*: a primarily Mexican segment of Engelmann
spruce is formally distinguished

*Picea engelmannii* ssp. *engelmannii*

*Picea engelmannii* ssp. *mexicana* (Martínez) P.

Schmidt

These populations also have been recognized as *P. mexicana* Martínez,
*P. engelmannii* var. *mexicana* (Martínez) Taylor & Patterson
(illegitimate name), and *P. engelmannii* var. *mexicana* (Martínez)
Silba.

Variation in seed dormancy and hardiness has been documented over the
broad geographic range of the typical subspecies, but no other varieties
are generally recognized. In the northern part of its range, Engelmann
spruce hybridizes freely and intergrades with white spruce (*P.
glauca*). In the Chilliwack River Valley of British Columbia, it
apparently hybridizes with Sitka spruce (*P. sitchensis*).

## Distribution

Alberta and British Columbia southward through Nevada, Utah, and
Colorado, into Arizona and New Mexico; the southernmost populations in
Arizona (Chiricahua Mountains) and New Mexico (Sierra Blanca) are ssp.
*mexicana*, which otherwise extends southward into both the eastern and
western sierras of northern Mexico. For current distribution, please
consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

## Establishment

*Adaptation*: In montane and subalpine forests, occurring as krummholz
at timberline, sometimes growing down into the fir-aspen belt on moist,
north facing slopes and in canyons; at 1000-3000 meters elevation.
Engelmann spruce and subalpine firs form one of the most common forest
associations in the Rocky Mountains.

*Planting*: Open-grown trees of Engelmann spruce begin cone production
at 15-40 years of age but the best seed production is between 150 and
250 years. Good seed crops are generally borne every 2-5 years

Although Engelmann spruce will germinate in all light intensities found
in nature, seedlings do not establish readily in the open -- 40 to 60
percent of full shade is most favorable for seedling establishment at
high elevations. Germination and establishment in undisturbed forest
occur on duff, litter, partially decomposed humus, decaying wood, and
mounds of mineral soil upturned by wind thrown trees. Because of its
slow initial root penetration and extreme sensitivity to heat in the
succulent stage, drought and heat girdling kill many first-year spruce
seedlings. Drought losses can continue to be significant throughout the
Rocky Mountains during the first 5 years of seedling development,
especially during prolonged summer dry periods. Once established (at
least 5 years old), the ability to survive is favored by adequate soil
moisture, cool temperature, and shade. The strong shade tolerance of
Engelmann spruce allows it to occur both as a persistent long-lived
seral species and as a major climax species.

Engelmann spruce will grow steadily for 300 years, long after the growth
of most associated tree species slows down. Dominant spruces are often
250-450 years old and trees 500-600 years old are not uncommon. Trees
reaching 760-850 years are known.

## Management

The shallow root system of Engelmann spruce makes it susceptible to
windthrow, particularly after cutting opens a stand. Downed wood from
windthrow also makes a site vulnerable to attack from the spruce beetle,
which has periodically caused severe damage. The western spruce budworm
is another potentially damaging insect that attacks both Engelmann
spruce and subalpine fir.

Complete removal of a spruce-fir stand by fire or logging results in
such drastic environmental changes that spruce and fir are usually
replaced by lodgepole pine, aspen, or shrub and grass communities. The
kind of vegetation initially occupying the site usually determines the
length of time it takes to return to a spruce-fir forest. It may vary
from a few years, if the site is initially occupied by lodgepole pine or
aspen, to as many as 300 years, if grass is the replacement community.

## Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

These plant materials are readily available from commercial sources.
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

## References

Alexander, R.R. & W.D. Shepperd 1990. *Picea engelmannii*. Pp. 187-203,
IN R.M. Burns and B.H. Honkala. *Silvics of North America*. *Volume 1.*
*Conifers*. USDA Forest Service Agric. Handbook 654, Washington, D.C.
\<http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/silvics_manual/Table_of_contents.htm\>

LaRoi, G.H. & J.R. Dugle 1968. *A systematic and genecological study of
Picea glauca and P. engelmannii, using paper chromatography of needle
extracts*. Canadian J. Bot. 46:649-687.

Taylor, R.J. 1993. *Picea*. Pp. 369-373, IN: *Flora of North America,
north of Mexico*. Vol. 2, *Pteridophytes and gymnosperms*. Oxford Univ.
Press, New York.
\<http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/Flora/flora.pl?FLORA_ID=12395\>

Taylor, R.J. & T.F. Patterson 1980. *Biosystematics of Mexican spruce
species and populations*. Taxon 29:421-469.

Taylor, R.J., T.F. Patterson, & R.J. Harrod 1994. *Systematics of
Mexican spruce -- revisited*. Syst. Bot. 19:47-59.

## Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

Formerly BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

## Species Coordinator

### *Gerald Guala*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edited 05dec00 jsp; 13feb03 ahv; 060802 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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