Alternate name: Colorado Spruce
Family: Pinaceae, Pine view all from this family
Description Large tree with blue-green foliage and a conical crown of stout, horizontal branches in rows.
Height: 70-100' (21-30 m).
Diameter: 1 1/2-3' (0.5-0.9 m).
Needles: evergreen; spreading on all sides of twig from very short leafstalks; 3/4-1 1/8" (2-2.8 cm) long. 4-angled, sharp-pointed, stiff; with resinous odor when crushed; dull blue-green or bluish, with whitish lines.
Bark: gray or brown; furrowed and scaly.
Twigs: yellow-brown, stout, hairless, rough, with peglike leaf bases.
Cones: 2 1/4-4" (6-10 cm) long; cylindrical, mostly stalkless, shiny light brown; cone-scales long, thin, and flexible, narrowed and irregularly toothed; paired, long-winged seeds.
Habitat Narrow bottomlands along mountain streams; often in pure stands.
Range Rocky Mountain region from S. and W. Wyoming and E. Idaho south to N. and E. Arizona and S. New Mexico; at 6000-11,000' (1829-3353 m).
Discussion Cultivated varieties of Blue Spruce include several with dramatic bluish-white and silvery-white foliage. It is a popular Christmas tree and is also used in shelterbelts.
