Index / Search / Picea sitchensis

§1 Plant

Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carrière

vernacular Sitka spruce — species · Pinaceae

USDA: PISI
GBIF: 5284827
Rank: species

Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) — Platephotograph · ngerlach source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Gymnosperm
Family: Pinaceae Spreng. ex Rudolphi
Genus: Picea

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Native
CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 37 counties across 4 states/territories

Legend Native · 37 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Low
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 111 min.
Precipitation: 22–225 in/yr
pH range: 3.9–5.7
Root depth: 30 in min.
Fertility need: High
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 200 ft
Height @ 20 y: 40 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Dense
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Fall
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 209,600
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: Yes
Fuelwood: Medium
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 37 counties across 4 states/territories.

Alaska view state ↗ 11 N ▾

California view state ↗ 3 N ▾

Oregon view state ↗ 9 N ▾

Washington view state ↗ 14 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PISI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5284827 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z