Sitka Spruce
- Species:
Picea sitchensis,
- Family: Pinaceae
- Origin: West North America
- Common Name: Sitka Spruce.
- Mature Height: 60m.
The
Sitka Spruce, comes from a similar distribution
to
Western Hemlock - from southern Alaska to northern California, on the
islands and coastal plain. Trees over 700 years old have been recorded
and they come third in the table of the tallest trees. Picea
sitchensis was discovered by Archibald Menzies in 1792 at Puget Sound
and introduced by David Douglas in 1831. It belongs to the Pinaceae.
This is another conifer which Sir John Stirling-Maxwell experimented
with. (See Abies procera.) Sitka spruce was one of his successes for
upland planting and is the most frequently planted forest tree in
Britain where it thrives in moist but well drained soils from sea level
to upland areas. The oldest plantings in Perthshire are at Murthly
Castle and at Scone and there are many trees recorded at over 200'
tall.
