Puget Sound Native Tree
Botanical Garden
picea sitchensis
picea sitchensis
Introduced CONIFERS
National Champions
Sitka Spruce
Champion Tree Statistics
HEIGHT
DIAMETER
AGE
330'
16'
400-600
Typical Large Mature Tree Dimensions
Height
Diameter
220 FEET
6-8 FEET
300-500 YEARS
AGE
The Introduced CONIFERS
of the
Puget Sound Native Tree
Botanical Garden
Sitka Spruce
picea sitchensis
Sitka Spruce is the strongest NW wood for its weight. Bill Boeing uused it to make airplanes for WW-II.
picea sitchensis
Introduced CONIFERS
DOLPHIN PLACE Specimens
Sitka Spruce
15 feet
3"
2018
HIEGHT
DIAMETER
YEAR AQUIRED
Bainbridge Island, WA
Provenance
Needles
itka spruce needles are stiff, sharp, flattened, and bluish-green with distinct white bands (stomata) on the underside, giving them a silvery look, and they're attached to twigs by woody pegs that remain after the needles fall, making them prickly and easy to identify. They're about 1 inch long, spirally arranged, and feel distinctly sharp and roll easily between your fingers, unlike firs.
Cones
Sitka spruce cones are pendulous (hanging), cylindrical, and relatively large (2.5-4 inches long), with thin, papery scales that have wavy or jagged edges (erose-denticulate), often with a small bract sticking out, maturing from green/reddish to pale brown, and are a key identifier compared to other spruces.
Bark
Sitka spruce bark starts smooth and gray on young trees, but matures into a distinctive, thin, flaky or scaly layer, often described as looking like glued-on potato chips or plates, with a purplish-gray to reddish-brown color, revealing a pinkish inner layer when scales peel off. It's relatively thin even on large trees, breaking into large, papery, circular scales.
picea sitchensis
picea sitchensis