White spruce (Picea glauca)
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Form
Height usually 40' to 60', occasionally 100', with a diameter of 24"; straight trunk; long, stout branches form broad conical head.
Bark
Dark gray or gray-brown and scaly.
Leaf
Needlelike, four-sided, crowded along branchlets; length 1/3" to 3/4"; pale bluish when young, dark bluish-green when mature; sharply pointed; has a slightly disagreeable odor when crushed.
Fruit (seed)
Slender cone, length about 2"; cone scales round and soft at ends; cone thin and flexible when mature; narrow-winged seeds mature in one season; cones drop during winter after opening and shedding seeds.
Range
Extensively found in the forests of northern Minnesota, reaching outward to the St. Croix Valley; thrives on dry soils associated with pine, and on moist soils and in swamps with balsam fir and tamarack; also found associated with mixed hardwoods; intermediate in shade tolerance.
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