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Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii)

[ Trees > Conifers > Spruces . . . ]      Forest Type: Subalpine Spruce/Fir

Range

Four-sided, blue-green, flexible needles that leave pegs when they fall; reddish brown, thin and scaly bark; cones less than 2.5 inches long; growing in western mountains.

by Michael Kuo

Habitat: At lower elevations in the northern Rocky Mountains, and at higher elevations in the southern Rockies; in pure stands or mixed with other conifers (often with subalpine fir).

Stature: 60-120 feet high; to 3 feet in diameter; narrowly pyramid-shaped; scraggly; branches short, whorled.

Needles: 1 inch long; blue-green; four-sided; fairly flexible and not very sharp.

Bark: Thin; loosely scaly; distinctively reddish.

Cones: 1-2.5 inches; scales flexible; bud scales appressed; persisting up to one year before falling in fall or winter.


(References consulted)


Frequent Mushroom Associates:

Many, many mushrooms are associated with Engelmann spruce, either in mycorrhizal partnership or as saprobic decomposers of Engelmann spruce litter and wood. A partial list includes: Agaricus amicosus; Albatrellus confluens; Albatrellus ovinus; Amanita muscaria var. flavivolvata; Boletus rubriceps; Calocybe fallax; Calocybe onychina; Cantharellus cibarius var. roseocanus; Catathelasma imperiale; Clavariadelphus lignicola; Clitocybe albirhiza; Cortinaius elegantio-montanus; Cortinarius pinguis; Floccularia fusca; Fomitopsis rosea; Hygrophorus olivaceoalbus; Hygrophorus pudorinus; Hygrophorus purpurascens; Lactarius badiosanguineus; Lactarius caespitosus; Lactarius deliciosus var. areolatus; Lactarius repraesentaneus; Leccinum species; Lepiota clypeolaria; Pycnoporellus alboluteus; Sarcodon imbricatus; Tricholoma rapipes; and many others.

 

Picea engelmannii

Picea engelmannii

Picea engelmannii

Picea engelmannii



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2003, August). Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii). Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trees/picea_engelmannii.html