PINACEAE 



Sitka Spruce 

 Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr. 



HABIT. A large tree 180-200 feet high and 3-41/2 feet in 

 diameter (max. 300 by 16 feet); bole often clear for 100 feet, 

 cylindrical; crown pyramidal, short, open. 



LEAVES. Extending at nearly right angles from all sides of 

 twig; Vz-Wq inches long; flattened; bright yellow-green above, 

 bluish-white, glaucous below; very sharp-pointed. 



FLOWERS. Male dark red; female covered by elongated 

 bracts. 



FRUIT. 2-4 inches long; oblong-cylindrical; short-stalked; 

 cone scales thin, rough, papery, stiff, wedge-shaped at apex 

 and erose-dentate at margin; chestnut-brown; falling first season. 

 Seed : Vq inch long, red-brown, wings % inch long. 



TWIGS. Glabrous; slender; orange-brown to gray-brown. 

 Winter buds: Va-Vz inch long, ovoid, red-brown. 



BARK. Thin, 1/2-1 inch thick; red-brown to purple; broken 

 into thin, loose, concave scales. 



WOOD. Very important and much in demand for special- 

 ized uses such as wood aircraft; during World War II aircraft 

 quality lumber reported to have sold for S600 per mbf. ; soft, 

 light, uniform grain. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Tolerant; growth fairly rapid; 

 long-lived, ages of 700-800 years; reproduction vigorous; shallow 

 roots. 



HABITAT. A tidewater species; best development on deep, 

 moist loams; in pure stands or mixed with hemlock, Douglas- 

 fir, western redcedar, alder and maple. 



Brewer spruce, Picea breweriana S. Wats., is an uncommon 

 timber-line species restricted to the Siskiyou Mountains of 

 southern Oregon and northern California. It is characterized 

 by long pendulous weeping branches; flattened, blunt, dark 

 green needles; rounded, entire-margined purplish cone scales; 

 and cones 2-4 inches long. 



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