Brewer Spruce

(Picea breweriana)

Brewer Spruce (Picea breweriana)

Identifying Characters: Brewer Spruce is characterized by the flattened needles, the purple immature cones, and restricted distribution.

Similar Species: Brewer Spruce is unlikely to be mistaken for any other spruce species within its range. It may occur with Engelmann Spruce in Oregon, but Engelmann Spruce has needles diamond-shaped in cross-section.

Measurements: Mature indivuals are between 70 and 100 feet in height 1.5 to 3 feet in diameter at breast height.

Cones: Cones 2.5 to 4 inches inches long, elongate-cylindrical; cones typically purple when immature but becoming matte orange-brown when mature; cone scales thin and apices broadly rounded.

Needles: Needles flattened in cross section and arranged evenly about the twig; needle blunt at the tip, with white lines on the upper surface and shiney, dark green below.

Bark: Bark red-brown, thin, and scaly.

Native Range: Brewer Spruce is found only in the mountains of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon near the Pacific coast between latitudes 40° 50' N. and 42° 40' N. The best developed stands are on the high ridges of the western Siskiyou Mountains in California and Oregon. Other concentrations are found on high ridges and in upper valleys of the Marble, Salmon, and Trinity Mountains of California. Throughout the rest of the range, Brewer Spruce grows as a single tree and as scattered small populations in valleys and on ridgetops. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Brewer Spruce is limited to northwestern California and southwestern Oregon near the Pacific Coast. The species typically is found along mountain ridges near timberline.