PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
No image available
Pinaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Picea sitchensis

Picea sitchensis

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthFast

Picea sitchensis occurs from tidewater up to steep mountain sides in Alaska and British Columbia, generally to ca. 900 m a.s.l. (highest record 1,189 m), always in proximity to oceanic weather. The soils are variable, usually with a thick humus layer. The climate is very humid, annual precipitation ranges from 1300 mm to 3750 mm, the winters are moderate (in coastal Alaska snow in winter usually stays only above 200 m)[1]. Likes abundant moisture at the roots, if grown in drier areas it must be given a deep moist soil[2]. Tolerates poor peaty soils[3]. Succeeds in wet, cold, poor and shallow soils[4]. Trees have succeeded on pure chalk when on a north facing hollow deep in beech woods[3]. Prefers a pH between 4 to 6[3]. Dislikes shade[3]. Intolerant of atmospheric pollution[2]. Very tolerant of exposure[4], resisting salt laden gales[5], though trees are not very wind firm in shallow soils[6]. A long-lived tree, with specimens 700 - 800 years old being recorded[7]. It is slow growing for its first two or three years, though it soon becomes an extremely fast growing tree and is very widely planted for timber in Britain and other temperate areas[2, 8]. Even trees 30 metres tall are increasing in height by 1 metre a year[9]. New growth takes place from May to July or August and some very vigorous trees will produce a second flush of growth until September[9]. Although the dormant tree is very cold-hardy, growth can be severely checked if the trees are growing in a frost hollow, because the young shoots are very susceptible to damage by late frosts[10, 9]. In Britain the best stands are produced in the sheltered valleys of W. Scotland. Trees are unsurpassed for rapid volume wood production in cool wet mountain sites on blanket peat in W. Britain[3]. In areas with cool wet summers (1200mm of rain per year) it makes a huge specimen tree[3]. Trees should be planted into their permanent positions when they are quite small, between 30 and 90cm[6, 3]. Larger trees will check badly and hardly put on any growth for several years. This also badly affects root development and wind resistance[3]. In some upland areas, especially over granitic or other base-poor soils, growth rate and health have been seriously affected by aluminium poisoning induced by acid rain[3]. Plants are strongly outbreeding, self-fertilized seed usually grows poorly[3]. They hybridize freely with other members of this genus[3]. Many trees do not bear female flowers in most years. Subject to damage by the green spruce aphid[6], trees are also often attacked by a bark beetle and so should be kept away from more valuable plantings[10]. A biological control for the bark beetle is being introduced (1990)[10].

Propagation

Seed - stratification will probably improve germination so sow fresh seed in the autumn in a cold frame if possible[11]. Sow stored seed as early in the year as possible in a cold frame[12]. A position in light shade is probably best[12]. Seed should not be allowed to dry out and should be stored in a cool place[11]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse or cold frame for their first winter. They can be planted out into their permanent positions in early summer of the following year, or be placed in an outdoor nursery bed for a year or so to increase in size. They might need protection from spring frosts. Cuttings of semi-ripe terminal shoots, 5 - 8cm long, August in a frame. Protect from frost. Forms roots in the spring[12]. Cuttings of mature terminal shoots, 5 - 10cm long, September/early autumn in a cold frame. Takes 12 months[12]. Cuttings of soft to semi-ripe wood, early summer in a frame. Slow but sure. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Picea+sitchensis>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  2. [2]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]Conifers. — Rushforth. K. · Christopher Helm · 1987 · ISBN 0-7470-2801-X ↩︎Deals with conifers that can be grown outdoors in Britain. Good notes on cultivation and a few bits about plant uses.
  5. [5]Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. — Schofield. J. J. · Alaska Northwest Books; Alaska · 2003 · ISBN 0882403699 ↩︎A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.
  6. [6]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  7. [7]The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. — Elias. T. · Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. · 1980 · ISBN 0442238622 ↩︎A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.
  8. [8]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  9. [9]Conifers in the British Isles. — Mitchell. A. F. · HMSO · 1975 · ISBN 0-11-710012-9 ↩︎A bit out of date (first published in 1972), but an excellent guide to how well the various species of conifers grow in Britain giving locations of trees.
  10. [10]The Plantsman. Vol. 5. 1983 - 1984. — ? · Royal Horticultural Society · 1983 · ISBN - ↩︎Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants.
  11. [11]Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. — McMillan-Browse. P. · Grower Books · 1985 · ISBN 0-901361-21-6 ↩︎Does not deal with many species but it is very comprehensive on those that it does cover. Not for casual reading.
  12. [12]Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. — Sheat. W. G. · MacMillan and Co · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
  13. [13]Manual of the Trees of N. America. — Sargent. C. S. · Dover Publications Inc. New York. · 1965 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ · ISBN 0-486-20278-X ↩︎Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader. It can be downloaded from the internet.
  14. [14]Ethnobotany of Western Washington. — Gunther. E. · University of Washington Press · 1981 · ISBN 0-295-95258-X ↩︎A small book, it is a good guide to useful plants in Western N. America.
  15. [15]Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples — Turner. N. J. · UBC Press. Vancouver. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7748-0533-1 ↩︎Excellent little handbook about the native food plants of Western Canada. Good descriptions of the plants and their uses with colour photos of most plants.
  16. [16]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  17. [17]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
  18. [18]Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada — Lauriault. J. · Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ontario. · 1989 · ISBN 0889025649 ↩︎Very good on identification for non-experts, the book also has a lot of information on plant uses.
  19. [19]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  20. [20]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  21. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎