General Plant Information (Edit)
| Plant Habit: |
Tree
|
| Life cycle: |
Perennial
|
| Sun Requirements: |
Full Sun
|
| Water Preferences: |
Wet
Wet Mesic
Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
|
| Soil pH Preferences: |
Strongly acid (5.1 – 5.5)
Moderately acid (5.6 – 6.0)
Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
|
| Plant Height: |
60 to 120 feet |
| Plant Spread: |
30 to 60 feet |
| Leaves: |
Evergreen
Needled
|
| Fruit: |
Other: female cones with papery or thin woody scales
|
| Fruiting Time: |
Late summer or early fall
Fall
Late fall or early winter
Winter
|
| Flowers: |
Other: soft male cones
|
| Flower Time: |
Spring
|
| Uses: |
Windbreak or Hedge
Provides winter interest
Useful for timber production
|
| Wildlife Attractant: |
Birds
Other Beneficial Insects
|
| Resistances: |
Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
Humidity tolerant
|
| Propagation: Seeds: |
Can handle transplanting
Other info: Seeds are inside cones
|
| Pollinators: |
Wind
|
| Miscellaneous: |
Tolerates poor soil
Monoecious
|
- Red Spruce
- Eastern Spruce
- West Virginia Spruce
- Yellow Spruce
- He-Balsam
- Spruce
Posted by
ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Nov 19, 2017 5:42 PM concerning plant:
Red Spruce is native to Nova Scotia and that region of Canada, New England, New York, central Pennsylvania then down the Appalachians through North Carolina. it often grows along watercourses and in bogs, and also grows way uphill and in the mountain heights. Its needles are 0.5 to 0.7 inches long. its cones are round and 1.3 to 2 inches long and fall soon after maturity. The cones are soft with thin scales with rounded margins. The bark is dark gray to brown. It is very similar to the much more widespread Black Spruce, but it grows wider and its cones are about 2 to 3 times as big. Slow growing of about 2/3 feet/year and lives over 200 years. I think it is the prettiest spruce that I have ever seen. Morton Arboretum in northeast Illinois has three specimens about 15 to 20 feet high doing alright in silty-clay soil of about 6.5 pH, but they are not thriving. It can be grown in landscapes, as I saw several (from wild origin) in the yard of a motel near White Haven, PA, but I don't know of nurseries growing this species. There are several cultivars listed in landscape plant manuals.
Posted by
sandnsea2 (Cape Cod, MA, USA - Zone 7a) on Mar 27, 2012 6:52 PM concerning plant:
Reddish brown bark and shoots give this spruce its name because its wood is light colored, much used for musical instruments and the source for spruce gum. Densely set needles are yellow-green.
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| WebTucker |
On February 28, 2023 |
Obtained plant |
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