Red Spruce               PI-see-a RU-benz

• Conifer, evergreen tree, to 80 ft (~25 m) tall, broadly conical and rather open.  Bark reddish-brown, shredded when young, separting into reddish-black scales or plates with age, at maturity dark and furrowed.   Needles curved, pointing forward, may be pressed close to the twig, crowded on the upper side, 10-16 mm long, blunt-pointed, slightly yellowish green, faint white dots or lines (stomatal lines) on all of the 4 sides.   Cones oval-oblong, 2.4-4 cm long, blunt pointed, glossy red-brown, scale stiff and woody, green to purple-violet when young, quickly abscising when mature.
• Sun.  Prefers moderately moist well-drained soil.  Suffers in warm summer areas.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 2      Native range extends from eastern Quebec to the Maritime provences of Canada (the provincial tree of Nova Scotia) and southwestward to the Appalachian Mountains of the US.
• rubens: red, possibly a reference to its red-brown cones.