T r e e s  o f  N o r t h  C a r o l i n a

Picea A. Dietr. (Pinaceae)

A genus of about forty species of trees; cool temperate and boreal parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

Two species occur in North Carolina. Only Picea rubens (Red spruce) is considered native to the state.

Key to Picea in North Carolina

1. Cones 10-16 cm long; upper branches spreading to ascending, the lower drooping; outer bud scales without hairlike projections; plant an alien, but widely planted as an ornamental and sometimes as an experimental timber plantation tree...*P. abies (Norway spruce)

1. Cones 2.5-4.5 cm long; upper branches ascending, the lower spreading; outer bud scales prolonged into minute hairlike projections; plant native...P. rubens (Red spruce)