Christmas Tree Species - White Spruce

White Spruce (pinus sylvestris)

White spruce is a medium-sized conifer found in the USA and Canada. It has a cone-shaped crown, and when grown in the open develops a conical crown which extends nearly to the ground. This habit along with the spreading branches give it a nice appearance for use as a Christmas tree. Trees often reach 80' to 140' high and up to 3' diameter. The oldest white spruce can be 300 years old. Needles are often crowded on the upper half of the branchlets, usually 1/2' to 3/4' long, blunt at the tip and green or blue-green in colour. Bark is thin, light gray-brown and has irregular, thin scaly plates.

As a Christmas tree, white spruce has excellent foliage color, short stiff needles and a good natural shape. Needle retention is better than some of other spruce species.

Photographs on this page are used with kind permission of the National Christmas Tree Association (USA). Their website is: www.realchristmastrees.org