Picea breweriana

Brewer species

PinaceaePicea

Brewer spruce or Brewer's weeping spruce is a member of the pine or Pinaceae family and is native to western North America, specifically the Klamath Mountains of southwest Oregon and northwest California, a range not glaciated during the last Glacial Period that extended from about 113,000 to about 13,000 years ago, retaining some interesting undisturbed species.

Outside its native range, P. breweriana is a highly valued ornamental tree in gardens, particularly in Great Britain and Scandinavia, where it is appreciated for its dramatically pendulous foliage.

  • Leaves are needle-like, 4-sided but flattened, spirally arranged, 15–35 mm long, round-tipped. Needles are on short, woody pegs (sterigmata).
  • Branches are drooping, with vertically pendulous branchlets, each branch forming a 'curtain' of foliage.
  • Cones are pendulous, non-fragmenting, 8–15 cm long, almost as long as those of Norway spruce; scales are fan-shaped, smoothly round and 2 cm long. Immature cones are dark purple, maturing to red-brown, ripening in 1 year.
  • Buds are gray-brown, 5–7 mm long, apex rounded; bark is gray to brown.

Contributors

  • Joseph Blowe
  • Emerald Canary
  • Philippe de Spoelberch