Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens)

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Quick Facts

  • Native to the Rocky Mountains
  • State tree for Colorado and Utah
  • Grows 5,000-10,000 feet in elevation
  • Popular Christmas trees

About

Colorado blue spruce is a beautiful species and one of the most popular ornamental conifers in the United States. Colorado blue spruce has magnificent blue-green color with a silver shimmer. They mature to be 50-75’ feet tall.  Stiff evergreen needles are ½- 1 inch long and silvery green-blue in color. The needles surround the branches at right angles, when crushed the needles give off a pungent resinous odor. Seed cones, are 3-4 inches in length and light brown. They hang downward on the branches and are concentrated at the crown of the tree. The tallest Colorado blue spruce recorded in the United States was 100 feet tall and found in Wyoming.

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