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Red Spruce

Picea rubens

Red spruce is the fragrant spruce of cool Appalachian highlands and northern forests, shade-tolerant when young and slow to mature. A signature tree of high-elevation spruce-fir habitat.

Family
Pinaceae
Type
tree
Lifespan
perennial
Height
60–90 ft
Spacing
15–25 ft apart
Light
sun, part shade
Soil moisture
moist
Soil pH
acidic
Bloom
May, June
Bloom colors
yellow, brown, green
Wildlife value
songbirds, mammals, larval host
Caterpillar hosts
~150 butterfly & moth species
Landscape uses
specimen
Native states
CT, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV