{"id":662,"date":"2026-07-21T12:05:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/?p=662"},"modified":"2026-07-21T12:05:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:05:42","slug":"sitka-spruce-picea-sitchensis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/2026\/07\/21\/sitka-spruce-picea-sitchensis\/","title":{"rendered":"Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>   In early May, I took a trip around the Olympic Peninsula on the opposite side of Washington state. The Olympic region lies in the middle of the Pacific temperate rainforest zone, the largest such zone on the planet, ranging from northern California up to Alaska. As the name implies, these rainforests get heavy precipitation, around 12-14 feet of rain per year. The understory is thick with epiphytes (plants growing on other plants): richly colored mosses, ferns, and lichens form in sheets and tangles everywhere. But the canopies may be most remarkable of all. They\u2019re primarily coniferous, and utterly massive. I want to stress that I\u2019m originally from New York City, so I\u2019m very acclimated to tall buildings and they don\u2019t usually shock me. Having said that, gazing upon rows and rows of enormous conifers almost blocking out the sky, no concrete required? That\u2019s impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>   My personal favorite is the Sitka spruce (<em>Picea sitchensis<\/em>), the common name deriving from the town in Alaska, and by a wide margin the tallest of all spruce species, reaching heights of up to 100 m (330 ft). For comparison, the 20-story apartment building in New York City where I grew up is about 61 m (200 ft). Sitka spruce has a strong preference for maritime habitats with high moisture, growing mainly along coastlines and further inland only along rivers with very wet soils. While growing to similar heights as two other well-known contemporaries, Douglas-fir (<em>Pseudotsuga menziesii<\/em>) and western hemlock (<em>Tsuga heterophylla<\/em>), Sitka spruce tends to grow wider and more quickly, carving out a competitive path to consistent prominence in Pacific rainforest canopies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>   To identify Sitka spruce from its associates, look for short, sharp, blue-green needles packed around a twig like a bottle brush, and very narrow cones with thin, papery scales. Many animal species rely on Sitka spruces for habitat, including mammals for cover and birds for nesting. Individuals can live for hundreds of years, but even after death, the massive structures often persist as snags, continuing to serve habitat and nutritional roles in decay. For human uses, Sitka spruce is a valuable lumber tree, as well as sought for use in high-quality musical instruments such as piano or guitar, and for certain components in airplanes. Or, if you\u2019re like me, you might be content to just stare up at them and bask in coniferous beauty. <em>\u2013 Henry Landis, 17 July 2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3476\/2026\/07\/image-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-663\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3476\/2026\/07\/image-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3476\/2026\/07\/image-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3476\/2026\/07\/image-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3476\/2026\/07\/image-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3476\/2026\/07\/image-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3476\/2026\/07\/image-100x150.jpg 100w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3476\/2026\/07\/image.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In early May, I took a trip around the Olympic Peninsula on the opposite side of Washington state. The Olympic region lies in the middle of the Pacific temperate rainforest zone, the largest such zone on the planet, ranging from northern California up to Alaska. As the name implies, these rainforests get heavy precipitation, around [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4758,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":null},"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662\/revisions\/664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=662"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbs.wsu.edu\/ownbeyherbarium\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}