Use Needles to Identify Common North American Coniferous Trees

Three-needled evergreens

Three-needled evergreens have cone-like structures that you can easily identify by looking for three needles. There are many species, including white spruce, black spruce and blue spruce. The needles of the white spruce are a blue-green color and grow to 1/2 inch long. Black spruce has dark green needles about 1/4 inch in length, while the blue spruce has bluish-green needles up to 1 inch long.

White Spruce

White spruce (Picea glauca), sometimes referred to as Canadian spruce, skunk spruce or cat spruce, is a coniferous tree native to the northern United States, from Maine west to Alaska. It thrives in the colder climates of its range, tolerating temperatures as low as −75 °F (−59 °C). White spruce is usually found on dry soils. It has a dense pyramidal shape and grows up to 80 feet tall with a trunk diameter of up to 3 feet. Its bark is thin and scaly when young that turns into thin furrows with age. The needles are stiff and somewhat curved, 1/4 inch long and bluish-green in color with white lines underneath. They grow all around the branch. Cones are cylindrical, 3/4 inch long, purple but turning brown when mature. Seeds have a papery wing attached at one end; they are dispersed by wind.

White wood is light weight and soft with straight grain; it is used for pulpwood production, boxes and crates.

White Spruce has little economic value except for pulpwood production.

Black spruce

In the photo below you can see the needles of a Black Spruce. These needles are very small, less than an inch long, and they have a sharp point. The cone also hangs down from the branch at the end of a short stem, which is common for spruces. Needles are found only on new growth, so make sure you look closely at what you’ve found to be sure it’s not just older needles that were left behind by previous years’ growth.

Blue spruce

The Colorado spruce, also known as the blue spruce, has stiff, sharp needles that are bluish-green in color. This beautiful tree grows up to 100 feet (30 m) tall and is a common landscape tree throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

Three-needled pines

Three-needled pines are by far the most common coniferous trees in North America. Needles come in clusters of 2 or 3 and generally have a very flexible, slightly glossy feel–not quite waxy, but not sharp either.

Ponderosa pine

• Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) grows in the western United States. It can be found at higher elevations along the East Coast, but is primarily a mountain tree of the West.
• The needles grow three to a bundle and are long and slender, averaging 6 to 8 inches in length. They are yellow-green in color and have little or no fragrance when crushed.

Lodgepole pine

Lodgepole pine has thick, leathery bark that resembles the hide of a rhino. While young, lodgepole pine trees have smooth, grey bark that turns red-brown when exposed to sunlight. Adult trees have deep ridges and furrows on the surface of their bark. The needles are borne in groups of three and are stiff, dark green and approximately one inch long. Cones are two to four inches long and egg-shaped with light brown scales that appear slightly shiny from a distance. Lodgepole pine is found in the mountains throughout most of western North America from Canada to New Mexico.

Eastern white pine

Eastern white pine is the tallest tree in eastern North America, and the largest pine in the eastern United States. It is native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Minnesota, and south to Kentucky and Virginia. Eastern white pine has soft, flexible needles that are usually five inches long (although short-needled forms are sometimes seen). The needles are in clusters of five. They are often twisted.

Western white pine

• Needles are long, soft, flexible and are blue-green.
• They grow up to 15 cm (6 in) long and each bundle will typically have five needles.
• The needles grow in spirals around the shoots with all the needles facing the same way.
• Each needle is attached to a spur on the shoot that grows out of an axil formed by another shoot. The spurs do not die after one year.
• The needles are not prickly and can be easily separated from one another if handled roughly.

Jeffrey pine

Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) is a medium-sized tree that can grow up to 100 feet tall. It has a thick, dark green bark with a strong, resinous odor. The needles of this coniferous tree are dark green and long, soft, and flexible. They are also twisted and grow in bundles of three. The Jeffrey pine’s cones have sharp spines that look like small hooks on the ends of each scale.

Red pine, Norway pine, and Jack pine (identical)

• Common name: Red pine, Norway pine, Jack pine
• Scientific name: Pinus resinosa, P. strobus and P. banksiana respectively
• Needle length: 5-12cm needles with 2-3 sharp points
• Habitat: In the northern U.S. and Canada

Uses: Lumber and pulp

Note: Often confused with eastern white pine

Limber pine and bristlecone pine (similar)

The needles of these two evergreen conifers grow in clusters of five and are quite similar, though you’ll find that the limber pine needles are longer than those of the bristlecone pine.

Limber pine needles grow in bundles of five. They’re 2 1/2 to 5 inches long and can sometimes be slightly curved. Bristlecone pine needles also grow in bundles of five, but they’re only about an inch long.

Two-needled pines (identical)

The lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) is another of our two-needled pines. Its needles are 5-10 cm long, dark green in color and grow in pairs. The needles are flexible and the trees are small in size, yet the needles themselves can be stiff and sharp.

This article is a cheat sheet that provides you with information to help you identify types of coniferous trees.

Oops! Click Regenerate Content below to try generating this section again.