A spruce needle is stiff, sharp and square enough to roll between your fingers.
Identifying spruce
Scientific name: Picea
How to recognise it
- Single needles all around the twig, each on a small woody peg.
- Needles stiff, sharp and four-sided.
- Twigs are rough after the needles fall.
- Cones hang down and fall whole.
Common spruces
- Norway spruce (Picea abies): drooping branchlets, long cones; planted widely and a Christmas tree in Europe.
- Colorado blue spruce (P. pungens): stiff, sharp, silvery-blue needles; common in gardens.
- White spruce (P. glauca): needles with a skunky smell when crushed, and slender cones; a tree of the north.
- Red spruce and black spruce are other northern species.
Look-alikes
Firs have flat, soft needles that leave smooth round scars, and their cones stand upright. Hemlock has short flat needles on tiny stalks.
Uses
Spruce wood is light and resonant and is used for the soundboards of violins, guitars and pianos. It is also a major source of paper pulp and building timber.