# Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii)

> Engelmann spruce, Picea engelmannii: its height and zones, when it sheds pollen and bears cones, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/engelmann-spruce/

![Engelmann spruce branches hung with slender light brown cones, with a mountain slope and spires of conifers behind](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/engelmann-spruce-1000.jpg?v=620b309c "Engelmann spruce on Emigrant Peak in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Montana, on June 15, 2023. Dominant trees often live 250 to 450 years.")
*Photo: Matt Lavin, [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APicea_engelmannii_-_engelmann_spruce.jpg))*

Large tree, 50 to 100 feet where planted, zones 2 to 8; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.

We do not grow Engelmann spruce, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Engelmann Spruce |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Columbian spruce, mountain spruce |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 100 where planted; up to 223 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 25 |
| Zones | 2 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value |
| Pollen | May to July |
| Fruit | Cones, August to October |
| First crop | 15 to 40 years (good crops from 150 to 250) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones, set apart in the crown so that a tree seldom pollinates itself, and in spruces self-pollination lowers the share of filled seed. |
| Lifespan | Typically lives 250 to 450 years, and the oldest dated one reached 911. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes and stream banks |
| Native in | 11 states |

Engelmann spruce is native in 11 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Jepson eFlora.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=engelmann-spruce): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=engelmann-spruce:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus americana*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Black Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-cherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus serotina*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes in the wild.
- [Balsam Poplar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/balsam-poplar/index.html.md) (*Populus balsamifera*): large tree, 30 to 100 feet, zones 2 to 5. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) (*Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii*): medium tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares stream banks in the wild.
- [Every companion of Engelmann spruce in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=engelmann-spruce)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, the Jepson eFlora, the Gymnosperm Database and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.