Picea Glauca - Varieties

Varieties

Several geographical varieties have been described, but are not accepted as distinct by all authors. These comprise, from east to west:

• Picea glauca var. glauca (Typical or Eastern white spruce). From Newfoundland west to eastern Alberta, on lowland plains.
• Picea glauca var. densata (Black Hills white spruce). The Black Hills in South Dakota.
• Picea glauca var. albertiana (Alberta white spruce). The Rocky Mountains in Alberta, British Columbia and northwest Montana.
• Picea glauca var. porsildii (Alaska white spruce). Alaska and Yukon.

The two western varieties are distinguished by pubescent (downy) shoots, and may be related to extensive hybridisation and/or intergradation with the closely related Engelmann Spruce found further south in the Rocky Mountains. White spruce also hybridises readily with the closely related Sitka Spruce where they meet in southern Alaska; this hybrid is known as Picea × lutzii.