Scientific name: Picea pungens

Common name: Colorado  spruce

Family name: Pinaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 3

Mature height and spread: 30-60m tall, 10-20m wide

Form: narrow, dense

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: well-drained

Leaf arrangement: needle-like, spiraled

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: monoecious. Cylindrical cones; violet colour when immature. Wavy cone scales.

Limitations: not as blue as expected if rain lots. Gets mites and aphids

Suitable uses: adaptable.

Quick ID: Conifer. Tree. Evergreen. U.S. Needle-like. Spiraled. 4-sided needles with bluish/white colour all around. Needles are stiff. Needles leave petiole on the stem when they are removed; rough stem. Very sharp needles.