The blue spruce
The blue spruce comes from the Rocky Mountains and is a popular ornamental in Europe for its blue, very prickly needles. Features, cultivars and the wood.
The Wood Guide · The spruce tree
Conifers · tree portraitThe blue spruce
From the Rocky Mountains, and in Europe the best-known blue conifer of front and back gardens. Lovely to look at, painful to touch.
- Picea pungens
- Blue, prickly needles
- State tree of Colorado
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The blue spruce in brief
A stiff, conical spruce from the Rocky Mountains with needles that a waxy coating turns blue to silver-grey.
In the mountains of Colorado, Utah and the surrounding area it grows along streams and on cool slopes. It is the state tree of Colorado. Its scientific name pungens means 'prickly', and you can feel it: the needles are stiff and razor-sharp.
The blue colour comes from a waxy coating on the needles. In the wild it ranges from green to steel blue; nurseries have selected the bluest forms, such as the well-known 'Glauca' and 'Hoopsii' cultivars.
A waxy layer on the needles reflects light and protects against drying out and strong sun. It wears off over the years, so older needles often turn greener.
- Botanical
- Picea pungens
- Origin
- Rocky Mountains, North America
- Height
- 25–30 m in the wild, usually smaller in European gardens
- Needles
- four-sided, stiff, very prickly, blue to green
- Bark
- grey, scaly
- Wood
- no commercial timber of note
To be fair: blue spruce wood is knotty and of little value. The tree is planted for its colour, not its wood — and in a small front garden it often outgrows its space in time.
In pictures · How to recognise a blue spruce
Schematic drawing.
How to recognise a blue spruce
Blue colour
Blue to silver-grey from a waxy coating, especially in the cultivated forms.
Razor-sharp needles
Stiff, four-sided and so sharp that you would rather not grab hold of it.
Stiff, regular shape
A broad, regular cone with horizontal branches in distinct whorls.
Grey bark
Grey and scaly, without the reddish-brown of the Norway spruce.
The wood of the blue spruce
Knotty
Because of the dense whorls of branches, the wood is full of knots.
Light and brittle
Light in colour and weight, and more brittle than spruce timber.
Not a commercial timber
It is hardly ever sawn; the tree is planted as an ornamental and a Christmas tree.
Christmas tree
Thanks to its sturdy branches and colour, it is also sold as a Christmas tree — decorate it wearing gloves.
In the wild the blue spruce becomes a sizeable tree. If you are planting one in a small garden, a slow-growing dwarf form is the better choice.
Frequently asked questions about the blue spruce
Why is the blue spruce blue?
Because of a waxy coating on the needles that reflects light. Cultivated forms have been selected to be extra blue.
Is a blue spruce prickly?
Yes, very. The needles are stiff and very sharp; the name pungens means 'prickly'.
How big does a blue spruce grow?
25 to 30 metres in the wild; in gardens, the cultivated forms in particular usually stay smaller.
Is blue spruce wood used?
Hardly at all. It is knotty and of little value; the tree is there for its colour.
The blue spruce in perspective
An ornamental tree best admired with your eyes — and preferably not with your hands.
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Photo via Wikimedia Commons: Picea pungens — James St. John, CC BY 2.0