Engelmann's Spruce 



59 



bluish green, and marked with numerous stomata on all surfaces; they are 

 crowded on the upper sides of the twigs and become darker in age. The stami- 

 nate flowers are oblong-cyhndric, about 12 mm. long, short-stalked and yellowish. 

 The pistillate flowers are similar in outline, but larger, and nearly sessile. The 

 cones, which are early deciduous, are ovoid, 2 to 4.5 cm. long and brown, their 

 scales obovate, rounded and entire or shghtly wrinkled on the margins; bracts 2 

 mm. long or less, with angled, acute erose tips; seeds about 3 mm. long, the wing 

 obovate, hght brown, shining. 



This species has been confused with Picea canadensis, which has smaller 

 sterigmata and longer and narrower cones. 



5. ENGELMANN'S SPRUCE Picea Engelmanni (Parry) Engelmann 

 Abies Engelmanni Parry. Picea Columbiana Lemmon 



Engelmann's spruce ranges from British Columbia to Oregon, east to Alberta, 

 and south through the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico and Arizona, 

 sometimes forming great forests and attaining a maximum height of about 45 

 meters with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. 



The branches are slender and spreading in close whorls, forming a compact 

 narrow cone; on old forest trees 

 the branches disappear for a con- 

 siderable height, leaving a short 

 narrow dense conic head. The 

 bark is up to 15 mm. thick and 

 deeply furrowed, red-brown to 

 purplish brown. The twigs are 

 rather stout, somewhat hairy, 

 greenish yellow, gradually becom- 

 ing dark yellow-brown. The win- 

 ter buds are conic, rather blunt, 

 W covered by pale brown thin-edged 

 ^ scales. The leaves, which emit a 

 polecat-like odor when bruised, 

 are 2 to 2.5 cm. long, slender, 

 soft, and flexible, sharply thick- 

 tipped, marked with several rows 

 of stomata on each face, pale 

 bluish green when young, darker 



when old. They are nearly ^ ^ 



Fig. 40. Engelmann s Spruce. 

 Straight and spread m all direc- 

 tions, those on fertile twigs often shorter, stouter, and incurved. The staminate 

 flowers are oblong- cylindric, 15 mm. long, short-stalked and purplish; the pistil- 

 late flowers are nearly the same shape and size as the staminate, sessile or nearly 





