Spruce

(First upload on October 20 2019. Last on April 30 2023) [ 日本語 | English ]

Spruce (non-native to Japan)

Mount Usu / Sarobetsu post-mined peatland
From left: Crater basin in 1986 and 2006. Cottongrass / Daylily

HOME > Plant list (植物リスト) > Pinaceae (マツ科) > Spruce (non-native to Japan)

Picea A. Dietr. (トウヒ), not in Japan

[ P. abies | P. glauca | P. pungens | P. engelmannii | P. sitchensis ] [bark (樹皮)]

Picea glauca in Interior Alaska

Shirotouhi (シロトウヒ, 白唐檜), white spruce
Kanadatouhi (カナダトウヒ, 加奈陀唐檜)
Lifeform: tall needle-leaved evergreen tree
Distribution: widespread in the boreal regions of North America
Habitat: climax tree developing taiga (Tsuyuzaki et al. 2009) ⇒ compared to P. mariana after wildfire (森林火災)

Understory: dominated by mosses (蘚苔類), represented by Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi, Ptilium crista-castrensis, and Dicranum spp. Sphagnum spp. are not so common.

Seed dispersal: wind
Varieties and cultivars

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[1-3] at Fairbanks on August 10 2012.

Picea abies (L.) Karst. transplanted in Hokkaido

Doitsutouhi (ドイツトウヒ, 独逸唐桧), Norway spruce
Oshu-touhi (オウシュウトウヒ, 欧州唐桧)

Lifeform: evergreen, needle-leaved tree, occasionally 50 m tall
Distribution: northern and central Europe

introduced to Japan in the middle of Meiji Era

Habitat: dominant tree in boreal forests with fertile soils
Use: snowbreaks, windbreaks and garden trees in Hokkaido, architectural material, including piano

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4
[1-3] in the Arboretum of Shibecha Kyoto University Experimental Forest, on June 27 2019. [4] in an artificial pond in the Arboretum of Hokkaido University adjacent to Poplar Boulevard in the Hokkaido University campus on April 28 2023.

Picea pungens Engelm.

Kororadotouhi (コロラドトウヒ), Colorado blue spruce
Pungensutouhi (プンゲンストウヒ)
Amerikaharimomi (アメリカハリモミ, 亜米利加針樅)
Lifeform: tall needle-leaved evergreen tree

Distribution: the Rocky Mountains, West Coast
Habitat: forest
Use: gardening
Cultivars: glauca (ギンヨウコロラドトウヒ), white leaves

Transplanted in Hokkaido

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[1] a bunch of cones on a tree at a parking lot, N28/E2, East Ward, Sapporo, on July 18 2014. Looks like a mast seeding (豊作). [2] at Riverside Park in N37 along Sosei River on April 10 2021. [3] in Toyohira Park, Toyohira Ward, Sapporo, on April 2 2021 (bark, 樹皮). [4/5] at the corner of N24/W5, North Ward, Sapporo, on April 3 2021.

cv. glauca

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[1] at the arboretum (樹木園) of Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, in Hitsujigaoka, Sapporo, on July 9 2013. [2/3] cv. glauca at a park near JR Obihiro Station, eastern Hokkaido, on June 6 2014.

Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.

Engerumantouhi (エンゲルマントウヒ), Engelmann spruce, or silver spruce
Lifeform: tall, evergreen tree, occasionally becoming 60 m tall
Distribution: at high elevations on the Rocky Mountains in western Noth America
Habitat: forests → major climax species

Seed dispersal: wind
Use: woods, pulp, etc.
var. engelmannii
var. mexicana (Martinez) Silba, only in southwestern USA
and a few cultivars

Transplanted in Hokkaido

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[1-3] at an arboretum garden in Tomakomai Experimental Forest, HU, on September 17 2015.

Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carrière

Shitokatouhi (シトカトウヒ), Sitka spruce
Lifeform: large coniferous evergreen tree growing to ≈ 100 m
Distribution: west coast of North America (down to California)

Habitat: temperate rain forests
Use: timber and paper

Transplanted in Japan

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[1-3] in the salicetums of Botanic Gardens, Tohoku University, Natural Monument Aobayama, northern Honshu, on March 22 2016. Data: Rec. Seeds No. 1241. Ex. Vancouver, Canada. Donat. Bot. Gard. the Univ. of British Columbia. Plant. 15 May 1969