Colorado Blue Spruce

Leaves: Needles 4-sided, stiff, in-curved and spiny pointed to 1/4″, usually blush-green, persist for 7-10 years.

Twigs: Orange-brown turning gray-brown with age, without hairs. Buds dark orange- brown.

Fruit: Cones to 4″ long, cylindrical, tapering slightly at the tips, shiny chestnut brown; scales with irregularly toothed margins.

Bark: Relatively thin, scaly and pale gray when young becoming furrowed and reddish- brown with age.

General: A widely planted ornamental in Pennsylvania, Blue spruce is native to the Rocky Mountains at elevations of 5,900′-10,000′. Slow growing and long lived, specimens can reach 150′ high. Cultivated varieties can have silvery-white or golden- yellow needles.