Tsuga mertensiana (Bong.) Carrière

A variable size tree. It is usually 15 m tall and 50 cm across the trunk but can be 45 m tall. It is a low spreading shrub at high altitudes. At lower elevations it has a strongly tapering trunk and branches almost to the ground. The leaves are needle like and single and rounded in cross section. They are 20-30 mm long with blunt tips. Both surfaces are dark bluish-green. The needles are crowded and spread all around the twigs. The seed cones are oblong and 30-80 mm long. They are purplish-brown. The scales are broad and thickened. They are fan shaped. They are rough along the edges. The cones open in autumn and spread widely. The scales bend back.

It is a temperate plant. It grows in the wetter areas of the subalpine forests between 750-1800 m altitude in Canada. It grows best in deep, moist soils on slopes away from the sun. It suits hardiness zones 4-9.

The inner bark was baked and eaten. The fresh needles are used as a tea substitute. Spruce oil is used to flavour candy.

Plants are grown from seed. Seed germinate in spring even in snow. Plants can be grown by layering.