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In Bloom

Picea sitchensis is located at the south entrance to the bridge over the Wildfowl Pond (Bed 66).

Location Scientific Name Picea sitchensis Family Pinaceae Plant Type Evergreen tree Environment Requires moist conditions to look its best. Thrives in cool summers and costal fog. New shoots subject to spruce gall - a growth caused by aphids. Bloom Both male and female cones are produced on mature trees. Pollen is usually shed in late spring and the cones form and persist on the branches throughout the fall and winter months. Uses Important foundation tree for large landscapes and can grow to 150 feet. Cultivar 'Speciosa' is more compact and slower growing. Wood is light and durable and is often used for musical instruments. Branch tips used in brewing beer. More Info Extensive information from the US Forest service including associated forest plants A rare golden Sitka Spruce was revered by the Haida people and recently destroyed Washington State Dept. of Ecology Sitka Spruce information page with images Profile Contributor: Fred Bové

Sitka spruce is the most dominant conifer of the islands and sea slopes of Alaska, British Columbia and the Olympic peninsula. The Inland Passage from Vancouver north to Sitka, is lined with conifers along its shores where spruce giants grow 8 feet in diameter and reach 150 feet high in the wet, temperate rain forests. Some 800-year-old ancients with massive swollen buttresses, develop huge claw-like roots which stand exposed above the wet mossy earth, high enough for a man to crawl beneath.

The two trees in Bed 66, at the south entrance to the bridge over the wildfowl pond, are young, and just beginning to show the weeping shape of Sitka Spruce, in which the branches sweep upward and the twigs droop downwards from the trunk. The undersides of the stout needles are silver showing two parallel bands of stomata (breathing pores). The cones are pendant and tapering, about 4 inches long with long bracts hiding the scales.

For strength as well as lightness no other wood surpassed spruce for industrial use in America decades ago. Piano sounding boards, racing shells, oars, overhead garage doors, aircraft parts were some of its many uses.

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Magnolia campbellii January	Magnolia denudata February	Magnolia x veitchii March
Iris douglasiana April

Acer palmatum 'Sango kaku' January	Magnolia campbellii 'Darjeeling' February	Bomarea spp. March
Rhododendron occidentale April	Polystichum munitum May	x Chiranthofremontia lenzii June
Salvia leucantha July	Hydrangea seemannii August	Wollemia nobilis September
Cyathea cooperi October	Pinus radiata November	Correa spp. December

Garrya elliptica January	Magnolia x soulangeana February	Senecio glastifolius March
Ribes spp. April	Oxalis oregana May	Calandrinia grandiflora June
Taxus baccata July	Romneya coulteri August	Passiflora parritae September
Malvaviscus arboreus October	Monterey Cypress November	Aloe arborescens December

Aloe plicatilis January	Banksia seminuda February	Zantedeschia aethiopica March
Magnolia laevifolia April	Araucaria heterophylla May	Toxicodendron diversilobum June
Clarkia sp. July	Agapanthus August	Brugmansia September
Cedrus spp. October	Protea repens November	Camellia sinensis December

Thujopsis dolabrata January	Gordonia longicarpa February	Rojasianthe superba March
Echium spp. April	Iris douglasiana May	Digitalis purpurea June
Felicia amelloides July	Ceroxylon quindiuense August	Amaryllis belladonna September
Ginkgo biloba October	Acer morrisonense November	Ilex aquifolium December

Picea sitchensis January	Telanthophora grandifolia February	Aeonium arboreum 'Schwartzkopf' March
Leptospermum April	Salvia gesneraeflora May	Lavandula spp. June
Pelargonium July	Fuchsia paniculata August	Luma apiculata September
Luculia October	Arbutus unedo November	Cycad December

Restionaceae January	Hellebores February	Ceanothus March
Rhododendron April	Psoralea pinnata May	Fremontodendron californicum June
Leucadendron argenteum July	Crocosmia August	Gunnera tinctoria September
Pellaea rotundifolia October	Fuchsia boliviana November	Erica canaliculata December

Magnolia campbelli January	Magnolia denudata February	Camellia March
Geranium maderense April	Acmena smithii May	Eschscholzia californica June
Dendromecon harfordii July	Romneya coulteri August	Eupatorium purpureum September
Epilobium canum sp. October	Grevillea spp. November	Drimys winteri December