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| ## red spruce {#red-spruce .Title-Header}                             |
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| *Picea rubens* Sargent                                                |
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| Plant Symbol = PIRU                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program

![Color image of Red Spruce (Picea
rubens)](media/image2.jpeg){width="3.0in" height="2.0in"}**Uses**

Red spruce is one of the most important forest trees in the northeast.
The wood is light, soft, narrow-ringed and faintly tinged with red. It
is the most common species of eastern spruce lumber. Because of its
resonance, it is especially adapted to sounding boards in musical
instruments. It makes up a large percentage of spruce pulpwood produced
in the northeast. It is used as a Christmas tree also.

Red spruce provides food and cover for various mammals and birds. The
spruce grouse feeds on the buds and foliage; red squirrels eat buds and
seeds; varying hare browse twigs and foliage; porcupines feed upon the
bark. Red spruce seeds make up 25 to 50 percent of the diet of
white-winged crossbills. Red spruce can be an important cover tree in
northern New England deer yards.

##### Status {#status .Header-3}

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status (e.g. threatened or endangered
species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

##### Description {#description .Header-3}

Red spruce reaches heights of 60 to 80 feet with trunk diameters of
nearly two feet. Larger sizes are attained in the southern Appalachians.
Needles are four sided, dark, shiny, yellow-green, and about 1/2 inch
long, growing singly from all sides of the twigs and branches. The
slender new twigs have a reddish coat of down through the first year.
This, together with the short incurved needles, help distinguish red
spruce from most other spruces. There are about 139,000 seeds per pound.

##### Adaptation and Distribution {#adaptation-and-distribution .Header-3}

In northern New England it is found mainly on shallow till soils that
average about 18 inches deep to a compact layer. At higher elevations it
often grows in organic soils overlying rocks. On poorly drained soils,
lack of aeration limits its growth. In the northern part of its range,
red spruce grows at elevations from near sea level to about 4,500 feet.
In the southern Appalachians it is limited to slopes and mountain tops
above 3,500 feet in West Virginia and above 4,500 feet in Tennessee and
North Carolina.

Unfortunately, red spruce is showing damage from air pollution
throughout its range, particularly at the higher elevations.

For a current distribution map, please consult the Plant Profile page
for this species on the PLANTS Website.

##### Establishment {#establishment .Header-3}

Good seed production of red spruce usually begins after the tree is 30
years old. Heavy seed crops occur every three to eight years. Spruce
seedlings have exceptionally slow growing, fibrous, shallow roots.
Consequently, a critical survival factor in natural establishment is the
depth of the organic layers on which the seed germinates. If the
thickness of the layer exceeds two inches, the roots of spruce seedlings
may not reach mineral soil and the moisture needed to carry them through
dry periods. Red spruce is very shade tolerant, but requires nearly full
sun light for optimum development.

Red spruce can be established in nurseries as easily as any of the other
spruces. It is used some for reforestation in the northeast.

##### Management {#management .Header-3}

Red spruce has not generally received intensive management in the
northeast. It can be harvested by partial cutting or clear cutting
depending upon local markets and silvicultural conditions. Weeding and
releasing, if needed, should be done at an early age, 10 to 15 years.

##### Pests and Potential Problems {#pests-and-potential-problems .Header-3}

Red spruce has several insect enemies, the most important being spruce
budworm. Budworm damage may be heavy in stands that contain a large
percentage of balsam fir. Some stands of red spruce may be susceptible
to damage by the eastern spruce beetle, European spruce sawfly and
yellow-headed spruce sawfly. Disease problems are minor in management of
red spruce.

The overall health of red spruce stands seems to be declining due to
pollution factors. Weakened trees are more susceptible to insects and
disease.

##### Prepared By & Species Coordinator:  {#prepared-by-species-coordinator .Header-3}

USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program

##### 

##### Edited: 05Feb2002 JLK; 060802 jsp {#edited-05feb2002-jlk-060802-jsp .Header-4}

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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Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
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*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
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TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.*

*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
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