Picea pungens f. glauca
Colorado Blue Spruce

Picea pungens f. glauca - Overall Habit
 Family:
 Genus:
 Plant Type:
 Growth Forms:
 Hardiness:
 Deciduous / Evergreen:
 Foliage Notes:
Blue (Evergreen foliage is stiffly needle-like and bluish-green)
 Fruit Notes:
Brown (Cone)
 Ultimate Height:
30-60 feet
 Ultimate Spread:
10-20 feet
 Light Requirements:
 Soil Notes:
Widely adapted to soils
 Range:
Rocky Mountains, Utah to New Mexico
 Diagnostic Characteristics:
Four-sided, stiff, sharply pointed needles. Woody petioles remain on branch after needles fall. Yellowish-brown buds with papery scales that resemble a dried flower. Younger twigs are yellowish tan and glabrous. Staminate cones orange and pistillate cones greenish-yellow.
  Special Characteristics:
  • Foliage Characteristics 55
  • Screen 179
  • Specimen 612
  • Slow Growth Rate 266

    • Additional Information

    One of the most striking of the conifers in color and habit. Some drought tolerance. Cost of most glaucous forms is high because they are produced by grafting and then intensively pruned to shape in nursery rows. Must be used with restraint because the strong blue color does not combine well with other plantings in the landscape. Some susceptibility to Cooley Spruce Gall Adelgid (Adelges cooleyi).

    49 Picea pungens f. glauca found

    Building Map...

    Other plants like this Picea pungens f. glauca (Colorado Blue Spruce)

    Communication

    University Resources

    Sustainability Resources

    Arboretum Resources

    Purdue University Logo Purdue University Logo

    The Purdue Arboretum is a collaboration between the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and Physical Facilities Grounds Department

    Purdue Arboretum, 625 Agriculture Mall Dr, West Lafayette, IN, 47907
    © 2025 Purdue University | An equal access/equal opportunity university | Integrity Statement | Copyright Complaints | Maintained by the Purdue Arboretum
    Contact Purdue Arboretum at arboretum@purdue.edu for accessibility issues with this page | Accessibility Resources | Contact Us