The Major North American Conifers with Descriptions

Red Spruce

• Red Spruce
• Picea rubens
• Found in north-central and northeastern parts of the U.S.
• Used for lumber, pulpwood, and Christmas trees

Black Spruce

• Other Names: Black Spruce, Swamp Spruce, Bog Spruce
• Range: Alaska, northern Canada, and northern New England
• Habitat: Bogs and other wet areas
• Growth Rate: Slow
• Mature Shape: Narrow and conical

White Spruce

The white spruce (_Picea glauca_) is a medium-sized evergreen coniferous tree that’s native to the northern parts of North America. It’s also called the Canadian spruce and cat spruce (due to its rough-feeling branches). _Picea glauca_ is typically 50-60 feet tall and 20 feet wide, but can grow up to 100 feet in height. The tree has a conical crown with horizontal branches and a straight trunk.

The needles are short, stiff, and sharp-pointed, growing spirally on the branches. The cones are small, cylindrical or oval in shape, green when young turning brown at maturity (maturing in one season).

Norfolk Island Pine

Araucaria heterophylla, commonly called the Norfolk Island pine, is one of the more unusual-looking conifers. It’s not a true pine but instead a member of the ancient Araucariaceae family. This fast-growing species can be grown as a single trunk tree up to 200 feet tall in its native habitat, or as a houseplant or bonsai. This conifer has flat branches and needle-like leaves arranged in whorls around the branches. The needles are dark green above and lighter colored on their undersides. Norfolk Island pine is attractive year round but especially so when it is producing reproductive cones at its branch tips during the summer months.

Araucaria heterophylla grows best in full sun to light shade on well-drained acid soils with lots of organic matter (such as peat moss) added. It prefers moist soil with regular moisture during dry periods but tolerates drought once established. Trees grown indoors will generally grow well outdoors in southern Florida and parts of California, but this species is not cold hardy outside of USDA Zones 10 to 11.

Lodgepole Pine

The Lodgepole Pine is a small to medium sized tree, which can grow up to around 200 feet in height. It’s most commonly found in the Rocky Mountains, as well as scattered throughout the western United States, Canada and Pacific Northwest. This pine has a straight trunk with thin, long needles (6 to 8 inches), which are generally dark green on top and lighter on the bottom. These trees need plenty of sunlight, so they’ll mostly be found growing in open forests. As with most conifers, their needle-like leaves retain water to help them survive through dry summers better than other types of trees.

Jack Pine

• Jack Pine is a coniferous tree, meaning it bears its seeds in cones.
• It grows to between 30 and 50 feet tall, and has a slender trunk.
• The bark is dark-gray or brown and scaly.
• You can find Jack Pine trees growing throughout America’s upper midwest—from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario in the north to Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota in the west to Michigan, Illinois and New York in the east.
• They’re also common on Canada’s maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, as well as Newfoundland.

Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) is a large coniferous tree native to western North America. It grows in various climatic conditions from hot, dry areas with low humidity to cold, and moist climates with high humidity.

This tree has different names such as western yellow pine, bull pine and blackjack pine.

The needles of this tree are commonly seen in bundles of 3. The color of these needles varies from yellow-green to dark green. They can grow up to 10 inches long and are soft to the touch. This tree has deeply furrowed reddish-brown bark which eventually turns gray or black as the tree matures.

Sugar Pine

• Pinus lambertiana, the Sugar Pine, is native to California and southern Oregon.
• They are both one of the tallest and most massive pines in the world.
• Their cones are among the largest of any conifer (one account records a cone 18 inches long and 8 inches wide!), with the largest seeds of any pine species.
• The cones are edible and sweet.
• The bark is thin, orange-ish brown, wavy-edged scales on larger trees becoming irregular plaques or plates on old trees.

Pacific Silver Fir

Pacific Silver Fir, also known as California red fir or silver fir, is a large evergreen conifer native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. With a height of 100-200 feet and a diameter of 3-5 feet, this tree features drooping branches in older trees. The bark is smooth and gray to gray-brown while the needles are flat and 1-1.5 inches long with blue-green coloration.

Subalpine Fir

The Subalpine Fir has a pyramidal habit when young, but becomes more irregular with age.

The dark green needles are 1″ long and curved.

If you’re lucky enough to get adjacent to a subalpine fir, you may be able to smell the distinct balsam scent from the needles.

This tree likes cool climates and will perform best in zones 3-6. Subalpine fir trees need full sun for best growth, but can also tolerate partial shade. Subalpine firs will grow well in heavy clay soil as well as light sandy soils that are plentiful in the Pacific Northwest; however, this tree does not like wet feet or alkaline soils (a problem around Denver). The subalpine fir is a slow grower so it may only gain 2-3′ each year. It can reach 60′-100′ tall with a 40′-60′ spread at maturity.

Balsam Fir

Balsam fir is a medium-sized tree, averaging 30–60 feet in height. This evergreen has dark-grey bark and the leaves are flat and needle-like, about 1/2 inch long with a dark green upper side and two whitish lines on the under surface.

Engelmann Spruce

The Engelmann Spruce is a species of spruce native to western North America, from the southern Rocky Mountains of New Mexico northwards into Alberta and British Columbia. It is an evergreen coniferous tree reaching up to 30–45 m tall, exceptionally 48 m, with a trunk up to 1.5 m diameter. The largest known Englemann spruce in the United States is located near Oregon’s Mount Hood National Forest at an elevation of 5,000 feet above sea level.

Engelmann Spruces are very attractive trees, with a blue-green to silvery-green color that looks like it was painted on. They grow well in high elevation areas with moist soils. Engelmann spruce can be grown as ornamental trees for large properties and parks and will tolerate partial shade better than most conifers. Their needles are needle-like, 2–3 cm long.

Colorado Blue Spruce

The Colorado Blue Spruce is a conifer native to the Rocky Mountains. Growing up to 100 feet high, this tree has a compact, narrow cone shape and can have branches all the way down to the ground. The needles of this species are prickly and bluish-green, lending it its ‘blue’ name. A popular ornamental tree, you will often find the Colorado Blue Spruce planted in yards throughout North America for landscaping purposes. This tree is also the state tree of Colorado!

These tree varieties are some of the most common conifers in the United States

Conifers are a group of trees that produce seeds in cones. Most conifers are evergreen and are found in the northern hemisphere. Conifers include some of the largest and oldest living organisms on earth.

Some of the most common coniferous trees can be seen in North America. If you live in a colder climate, you’re probably quite familiar with them as they dominate the landscape, but if you’ve never seen them before, take a look at these pictures to learn more about these beautiful evergreens: