Common Names: Canada
Spruce, Cat Spruce, Single Spruce
Genus: Picea
Species: glauca
Parts Used: landscape trees
Most spruce needles are four-sided, stiff, and less than one inch long, 2.5 centimeters to be exact. Woody, peglike projections help join the needles to the twigs. Spruce trees grow tall and most are shaped like pyramids. Some grow as tall as one hundred and fifty feet, specifically the white spruce. The spruce tree is an evergreen color but specific types of spruces, the black spruce for example, are named for the color of their bark and foliage.
The needle-like leaves attached to the common spruce trees are used to hold in moisture. The blue spruce is widely planted in yards because of its beautiful silver-blue foliage.
Some spruce trees grow beyond the Arctic Circle, whereas others can grow as far south as the Pyrenees Mountains.
Approximately forty different types of spruce trees are native to the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, spruce trees grow as far south as North Carolina and Arizona. The Sitka spruce grows on the Pacific Coast from northern California to Alaska.
by Leah E. 2000
Bibliography:
The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 18, Chicago, World Book Inc. Pg. 809-810.
The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 15, Chicago, World Book Inc. Pg. 667-668.
The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 2, Chicago, World Book Inc. Pg. 327.