Start growing
Moderate growth. Prefers full sun and moist soil. Very hardy.
GROW SOMETHING WONDERFUL
White Spruce
Picea glauca
Your guide to planting, growing, and getting to know this plant.
THE PLANT NOTEBOOK
White Spruce care, from seed onward.
- Botanical name
- Picea glauca
- Common names
- Canadian Spruce, Skunk Spruce
- Family
- Pinaceae
- Genus
- Picea
- Species
- P. glauca
Growing with your kit
White Spruce is the 'North Star' of your kit. It teaches kids about extreme cold adaptation in the Seeds In A Cup® curriculum.
Propagation
By seed.
Seasonal growth & harvest
Extremely cold hardy; forms the northern limit of tree growth (treeline).
Growing conditions
Riverbanks, lake shores, and boreal forest edges.
Weather & tolerances
Highly wind and extreme cold tolerant.
Pests & plant health
Spruce budworm and yellowheaded spruce sawfly.
Plant safety
Safe for handling.
Botanical features
A medium evergreen conifer with pale blue-green needles that smell 'skunky' when crushed.
Varieties
‘Conica’ (Dwarf Alberta Spruce) - extremely popular.
Garden & everyday uses
Important for paper pulp and construction lumber. Windbreaks
Native range & distribution
Transcontinental across Northern North America.
Conservation
Vast and secure.
Name origins
Latin ‘glauca’ meaning blue-green/waxy, referring to the needle coating.
History
Used by indigenous peoples to make 'spruce beer' to prevent scurvy during winter.