How to Look for White Spruce Trees
The white spruce, also called the Canadian spruce, is a tree of the boreal forests. These forests extend down from the area south of the Arctic Circle through the subarctic and cold continental regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. They compose as much as one third of the planet's forest, according to the website Boreal Forest.org. The white spruce is one of the types of coniferous trees that exist in this region. To find one growing in its natural habitat, you must first familiarize yourself with it and its growing conditions.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Study what a white spruce tree looks like so that you will recognize one when you see it. This evergreen tree averages about 75 feet tall and the trunk has a diameter of between 1 to 2 feet. The white spruce's needles are about an inch long and the cones that contain the seeds are from 1.5 to 2.5 inches long. The tree is erect with a crown shaped like a cone. Look for a tree that has long bottom branches that droop all the way down to where they can touch the ground.
-
2
Familiarize yourself with where the boreal forest extends into the United States. This is where you will have the most success finding white spruces. The forests of most of Maine, northern portions of New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, and northern parts of the Great Lakes states are boreal; small parts of the forests of Wyoming and Montana are as well. Nearly all of the Canadian forest and much of the Alaskan forest are boreal.
-
-
3
Scout out areas where there are lakes, streams and rivers in a boreal forest setting. White spruces frequently grow on the banks or in very close proximity to bodies of water. While they thrive in moist soil, white spruce will not grow near stagnant water, and will tolerate dryer soil as long as it is fertile.
-
4
Look for the types of trees that grow with white spruce. Species such as quaking aspens, black spruces and balsam fir often mix in with white spruce. The kinds of trees and shrubs that grow beneath white spruce include bunchberry, green alder and a plant called Labrador tea. Where you find these trees and shrubs you will often find white spruce.
-
5
Look in areas that receive full sun when looking for white spruce. Although the tree can live in the shade, it prefers lots of sunshine. Some white spruces will grow slowly beneath larger hardwood species, but once they achieve the same height as the hardwoods and get ample amounts of light, they quickly grow taller than them.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
You can differentiate a white spruce from the similar black spruce by remembering that black spruce is a much smaller tree, averaging between 20 and 60 feet high. Also, a black spruce has shorter needles and cones, and its lower branches frequently wind up taking root after being forced down near the ground by heavy snows.
