The trunk is usually tall, straight and tapering, and the branches horizontal, with the lower ones sloping downward. Bruised leaves have a sharp, unpleasant odor. The hanging cones are 1 to 2.5 inches long, slender and cylindrical, with thin, tough, light brown, flexible scales with smooth, rounded margins. The thin, smooth, light gray bark on young trees becomes darker and scaly with age.
White spruce is the provincial tree of Manitoba.
It grows at the Arctic tree line and is native from Alaska to Newfoundland, south to Montana, Minnesota and New York. Hardy from zone 2 to 6, this species can withstand extreme heat and cold and a variety of soil conditions, although it prefers moist, loamy or alluvial soils. It is found along streams and lake shores and adjacent rocky hills and slopes. It is the first species to invade abandoned farmland in the north, preferring full sun, but tolerating some shade. A few pests and diseases are common.