Click on the images help you identify an White spruce.
Form
Height usually 40' to 60', occasionally 100', with a diameter of 24"; straight trunk; long, stout branches form broad conical head.
Bark
Dark gray or gray-brown and scaly.
Leaf
Needlelike, four-sided, crowded along branchlets; length 1/3" to 3/4"; pale bluish when young, dark bluish green when mature; sharply pointed; has a slightly disagreeable odor when crushed.
Fruit (seed)
Slender cone, length about 2"; cone scales round and soft at ends; cone thin and flexible when mature; narrow-winged seeds mature in one season; cones drop during winter after opening and shedding seeds.
Range
Extensively found in the forests of northern Minnesota, reaching outward to the St. Croix Valley; thrives on dry soils associated with pine, and on moist soils and in swamps with balsam fir and tamarack; also found associated with mixed hardwoods; intermediate in shade tolerance.
Wood uses
Light, strong, soft, straight-grained, yellow-white; used in the manufacture of various products, most important of which is paper. Largest trees are sawed into lumber and used for general construction—airplanes, furniture parts, canoe paddles, and sounding boards for musical instruments; planted quite extensively for ornamental purposes, wind-breaks, and shelterbelts; ranks high as a Christmas tree.