Engelmann Spruce grows in the subalpine in the BC Interior between the alpine tundra and lower elevation forests. The wood of an Engelmann spruce is light colored and is very similiar to white spruce, it is used for lumber as well as veneer in the making of plywood.
The latin name for Engelmann Spruce is Picea engelmanni. Named after George Engelmann a German-American botanist and physician.
They are narrowly crowned and grow very tall to a height of 50 meters and can grow easily to 1 meter in diameter or more. Engelmann spruce is tolerant to short growing seasons with relatively severe winters and long periods of frozen soils. Where its range overlaps with white spruce it results in interbreeding creating a hybrid white-engelmann spruce. Most commonly it is found growing with subalpine fir but can also be found growing with lodgepole pine, hemlock and larch.
The needles are bluish green in color about 20 cm long with sharp ends . Engelmann spruce has a pungent odor which is distinctive and is used to help identify it.
For more information on Engelmann spruce, a handy field reference guide can be found here: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/treebook/treebook.pdf
North 53 39.861 West 122 56.808
All hides for this Spruce Geo Art Series are camoed pill bottles or bison tubes. Each container contains a logsheet sealed in a tiny zip lock bag. Please bring your own pencil. This cache is not hidden at the posted coordinates, however all the information you need is on this cache page.
Photo Credit: Engelmann Spruce tree image obtained from: Tree book - Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia, Forest Service (print collection) - p.64
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