Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.

Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm. var. engelmannii. Lower limbs of an Engelmann Spruce that had caught a fallen cone. Not a posed picture; as it was found. Please consider the tree debris behind and to the side as tinsel! Otherwise I suppose I should have removed it but at the time was just trying to capture exactly how it was.Cones are shorter than Blue Spruce, Picea pungens, and not as papery. This cone bothered me somewhat in terms of being representative of Engelmann's Spruce in terms of its size and bract characteristics. Based on the likely length of the leaves/needles (probably mostly around 2 cm), this cone is easily in the 8 to 10 cm (roughly 4", possibly a little longer) range which is unusually large (cones for this species are usually less than 6 cm, so well less than 3" long. Also the bracts on Engelmann's Spruce cones are often more entire and rounded rather than as above. However, they can also be erose as above, and the shape of the cone above is much more in the expected range compared to the more oblong to cylindric shape of a Blue Spruce cone. The two spruces commonly grow together (although I did not see any P. pungens at this particular spot) and in the same elevational ranges but supposedly do not hybridize.Young twigs have minute hairs whereas those of Blue Spruce are glabrous.Needles not a sharp as Blue Spruce and they tend to be more on the upper side of the twig whereas with Blue Spruce they are spread equally more or less around the twig. September 5, 2011, Wasatch Plateau, Huntington Canyon, Emery County, Utah, approx. 7,185 ft. elev. Most commonly found at 8,000 ft and above however often occurs between 6,500 and 8,000 ft. in Utah.

Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm. var. engelmannii. Also commonly referred to as Engelmann Spruce. Note the lower branches where cones have fallen. The close shot at www.flickr.com/photos/tonyfrates/6513452137/ was from one of those lower long spreading branches.Trees can be 50 meters or taller. Bark is red to purple-brown compared to the light to dark gray of Blue Spruce, Picea pungens. The form of the tree above is closer to Blue Spruce than typical Engelmann's Spruce.September 5, 2011, Wasatch Plateau, Huntington Canyon, Emery County, Utah, approx. 7,185 ft. elev. Most commonly found at 8,000 ft but often occurs between 6,500 and 8,000 ft. in Utah; the lower elevation coupled with the additional growing room around it may account for the fullness of this tree than is necessarily typical. Blue Spruce grows with it and in the same general elevational range but supposedly the two species do not hybridize.

It is very difficult to separate this from Abies lasiocarpa but in studying other images from the same tree it appears to me to be Picea englemannii as identified on original slide. I used 'Intermountain Flora' vol 1 by Cronquist et all to help.

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