Northeast Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Picea rubens Sarg.
- Family: Pine (Pinaceae)
- Fruits: Autumn
- Field Marks: This spruce differs from all others by its finely hairy twigs, its sharp-pointed needles, and its cones that fall quickly from the tree.
- Habitat: Woods.
- Habit: Tree to 90 feet tall, with a trunk diameter up to 2 feet; bark scaly, gray or red-brown.
- Stems: Twigs orange-brown, finely hairy when young but becoming smooth with age; buds ovoid, pointed at the tip, up to 1/3 inch long, reddish brown.
- Leaves: Needles borne singly, pointed at the tip, usually curving upward, up to 3/4 inch long.
- Reproductive Structures: Male cones bright red, usually not on the same twigs as the female cones; female cones red or green.
- Fruits: Cones woody, oblongoid, 1 1/2-2 inches long, reddish brown, with rounded scales not bearing prickles; seeds up to 1/6 inch long, with wings about twice as long.
- Notes: The wood is used in making musical instruments and in providing pulp.
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Return to Species List -- Group 5
Next Species -- Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida)
