EVERGREENS OF COLORADO 



Fig. 13. Lodgepole Pine. Showing- a cone imbedded in log over sixty 



years old. 



slopes and along mountain streams between the altitudes of 8,500 to 

 timber line. At the upper limits of tree growth, the Engelmann spruce 

 sometimes forms spreading masses of scrubby growth, scarcely reaching 

 the height of an ordinary man. In form and general appearance, it 

 greatly resembles the blue spruce and in many specimens the foliage pos- 

 sesses the silvered appearance of that tree, especially in early age. In 

 very old trees, the crowns are apt to be somewhat less symmetrical than 

 in the blue spruce, although occasional forms are found which are nearly 

 perfect cones. Many of the so-called perfect trees to be found in the 

 canyons and different parts of the state are of this species. One partic- 

 ularly fine specimen which has usually been mistaken for the blue spruce 

 is to be found in Boulder Canyon. The needles are somewhat shorter as 

 a rule than those of the blue spruce and when grasped in the hand do not 

 present such intolerably sharp points as those of the blue spruce. This 

 is a common method of recognizing the two species in the nursery. 



While the surface of young twigs in the blue spruce is always 

 entirely glabrous or free from hairs, the Engelmann spruce has the sur- 

 face of the young twigs covered with a very fine pubescence or growth 

 of minute hairs. This is one of the characters commonly used by the 

 botanist in recognizing the Engelmann spruce, although in some of the 

 higji altitude forms of this tree this character is greatly diminished or 

 nearly wanting. Usually, however, a hand lens will enable a person to 

 see a few hairs at the bases of the needles, especially near the terminal 

 buds. 



The Engelmann spruce reaches a much larger size than the blue 

 spruce and under favorable conditions produces clean trunks three or 

 four feet in diameter. The bark on such trunks is dark reddish brown 

 and separates in the form of small rounded scales. In young trees these 

 scales are usually greyish in color externally and often separate from the 

 trunk in ragged patches. The bark seldom if ever becomes ridged or 

 furrowed as it does in the blue spruce and this is one of the most valuable 

 characters by which to distinguish large specimens of these two species. 



