Needles are borne at nearly right angles to the stem. Foliage is blue to green in color and varies by seedling or variety. Brownish-yellow bud scales curve outward and are often rolled at the apex. Viewed from the end of the stem, the foliage is more semicircular. Leaves are usually glaucous and terminate in rather abrupt, but not sharp, points.
Needles have a disagreeable odor when crushed.
Scales on terminal winter buds are more pointed and not emarginate at the tip. Leaves are more tapered than white spruce but not sharply pointed. Foliage is dark green and not glaucous. Norway spruce is one of the most commonly planted European evergreens and was a favorite among early pioneers for plantings around homesteads. It is extensively planted in Ohio as a windbreak and for Christmas trees, though cut Norway spruce trees do not retain their foliage as well as blue or white spruce.