Description
General: straight, spire-like evergreen tree
up to 50 m. tall, the trunk seldom over 1 m. thick. Young twigs usually strongly
though finely softly short-hairy, but sometimes almost hairless. Bark brownish-red
to reddish or purplish, loosely scaly, rather thin. Branches generally evidently
whorled, short and rigid in the crown.
Leaves:
needles, about 2-3 cm long, sharp but not particularly stiff, deep bluish-green,
tending to spread in all directions on the branch or more commonly in part
horizontally spreading and in part erect and thus all on the upper side of
the branch, shallowly ridged on the upper surface and prominently ridged
beneath and thus 4-angled and nearly as thick as broad, with two whitish
lines on the lower surface nearly as broad as those on the upper surface.
Cones:
male and female on the same tree. Male cones 10-15 mm long, yellow. Female
cones mostly 4-5 cm long, yellow-brown to purplish-brown, the scales round-tipped
to pointed, finely irregularly edged-small-toothed, more than twice as long
as the oblong bracts and completely concealing them. June-July.
Fruits: seeds, barely 3 mm long, 1/2-1/3 as long as the pale brownish wing.
Distribution
Cool, moist slopes and
ravines, often around swamps, montane to subalpine zone, in w. and c. parts
of MT. Also from Yukon and B.C. and s. w. Alberta, s. through the Cascade
mountains of WA and OR to CA, ID, and s. in the Rocky mountains to NM and
to AZ, UT, and e. NV. |
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Edible Uses
Young male catkins of Engelmann's spruce are
edible raw or cooked. They can be used as a flavoring. The immature female
cones are edible cooked. The central portion, when roasted, is sweet and
syrupy. The cones are about 5 cm long. The inner bark can be dried, ground
into a powder and then used as a thickener in soups etc. or added to cereals
when making bread. It could be an emergency food when all else fails. The
seed is edible raw. The seed is about 2-4 mm long and is small and cumbersome
to use. A refreshing tea, rich in vitamin C, can be made from the young shoot
tips.
Medicinal Uses
An infusion of the bark has been used in
the treatment of respiratory complaints, plants used in the treatment of
tuberculosis etc. A decoction of the leaves and gum has been used in the
treatment of cancer. It was said that if this treatment did not work then
nothing would work. The decoction was also used in the treatment of coughs.
The ashes of the twigs, mixed with oil, have been used as an ointment to
soothe and heal in miscellaneous treatments for the skin. The pitch obtained
from the trunk has been used in the treatment of eczema.
Other Uses
The bark is a source of tannin. The branches
and the roots have been shredded, pounded and used to make cord and rope.
The bark has been used to make baskets and various small utensils. The wood
is close-grained, light, soft, not strong. It is used for lumber, construction,
fuel and charcoal. It is also valued for its use in the pulp industry to
make paper.
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Edible plant
Medicinal plant
