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    • ERICA, ERICA'S TREE (and a short history of Guiding) - June 14, 2018
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  • Picea sitchensis

Picea sitchensis

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Common name: Sitka spruce


Picea sitchensis: This species is the largest of all spruces. It is native to the Pacific Northwest coast region and grows at low altitudes near the ocean. The Sitka spruce is unique in that it can absorb minerals such as calcium and phosphorus from the ocean. With its strong, tough, lightweight wood, Sitka spruce has had many uses for humans. There is no better soundboard for a piano or guitar than the one made from this spruce. And that is thanks to its lack of vessel elements, its long straight fibres, and its uniform composition. I have seen a Sitka spruce in the Carmanah Valley that was so old you had to look twice to really see it as a tree - it looked more like an ancient totem pole carved by weather and age. Hughie Jones.


The photo is of a very young Sitka spruce planted in 2018 in the BC Habitat Garden. Behind it is a new Western redcedar nurse log, the top of a 1000-year-old tree, which fell off in a storm. The older nurse log south along the Sino-Himalayan highway is a Sitka spruce log that was brought into the Garden. It is now almost covered by salal and young trees.


The Sitka spruce in Olympic National Park, at Klaloch in Washington State, is a testament to the tenacity of this species. It overhangs a cave and apparently lives in the void above, but actually its roots grow back into the ground behind.


Another example of its tenacity is that it is the world's most remote living tree, the sole survivor of a lumber plantation on Campbell Island, south of New Zealand.


Burls on Sitka spruce

Sitka spruce in Ireland

Self-Guided Tour, April 2022

Edible spruce tips


Photos by Hughie Jones

New growth photo taken in Garden May, 2022

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  • Home
  • Updates
    • What's New
    • Curator Updates
    • Garden Stories >
      • Garden Story Index
    • Self-Guided Tours
    • Walks & Talks >
      • Walks and Talks 2023
      • Walks and Talks 2022
      • Walks -Talks 2021 & Zoom Tips
    • PDFs of Updates, Tours, & Talks >
      • Self-guided Tours (PDF)
      • Gardener Walks (PDF)
  • Plant IDs
    • ID By Flower Color >
      • Red Flowers
      • Pink Flowers
      • Orange Flowers
      • Yellow Flowers
      • Green Flowers
      • Blue Flowers
      • Purple Flowers
      • White Flowers
    • ID By Type >
      • Annuals
      • Berries-Fruits-Nuts
      • Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes, Tubers >
        • Bulbs
        • Corms
        • Rhizomes
        • Tubers
      • Ferns
      • Grasses
      • Medicinal Plants
      • Native Plants
      • Perennials >
        • Peonies
        • Salvias
      • Rhododendrons >
        • Rhodendron Erica Notes
      • Shrubs >
        • Calycanthus
        • Hydrangeas >
          • Hydrangea Background
        • Peonies >
          • Peonies-Overview
        • Rhododendrons
        • Roses >
          • Rose Background
      • Trees >
        • Conifers >
          • Cypress
          • Firs
          • Pines
        • Deciduous Trees >
          • Dogwoods
          • Ginkgos
          • Magnolias
          • Witch Hazels
        • Native Trees
        • Tree of the Month
  • In the Garden
    • Map and Collection Lists
    • Art in the Garden >
      • Symposium & Exhibitions
    • Building and Grounds >
      • Bridges
      • Formal Rose Garden Hardscape and Art
      • Grotto Area & Black Garden
      • Korean Pavilion
      • Maze
    • Gardener Assignments
    • Collections >
      • Ash Collection
      • Camellia Collection
      • Rhododendron Walk
    • Gardens >
      • Gardens A-D >
        • Alma VanDusen Garden
        • Backyard Bird Garden
        • Bentall Garden
        • Black Garden
        • Canadian Heritage Garden >
          • Bees
          • Canadian Heritage Orchard
        • Cascadia Garden
        • Cherry Grove
        • Chilean Garden
      • Gardens E-H >
        • Eastern North America Garden
        • Fern Dell
        • Formal Rose Garden
        • Fragrance Garden
        • Heather Garden
        • Herb Garden
        • Heritage Rose Garden
      • Gardens I-P >
        • Laburnum Walk
        • Livingstone Lake
        • Meconopsis Dell
        • Meditation Garden
        • Mediterranean Garden
        • Ornamental Grasses
        • Perennial Garden
      • Gardens R-Z >
        • Rhododendron Walk
        • Sino-Himayalan Region
        • South African Garden
        • Southern Hemisphere
        • Stone Garden
        • Vegetable Garden
        • Woodland Garden
    • Garden History >
      • History photos
  • Science
    • Animals & Insects >
      • Birds
      • Butterflies and Moths
      • Insect Friends
      • Small Creatures
    • Buds
    • Colour and Vision
    • Dynamic Symmetry - Fibonacci Spirals
    • Flowers
    • Fruit
    • Germination
    • Habitats and Environments
    • Hormones
    • Leaves
    • Life on Earth
    • Light, Energy, and Rainbows
    • Plant Calendars
    • Pollination
    • Pollen
    • Roots
    • Scents
    • Seeds
    • Soil
    • Stems
    • Vascular Plants
    • Web of Interdependence
    • Weeds
  • Bloedel
  • Search
  • About
    • ERICA, ERICA'S TREE (and a short history of Guiding) - June 14, 2018
  • Contact