Picea breweriana

Brewer spruce

Family: Pinaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Brewer spruce is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges on cool, moist, forested slopes at elevations of 560 to 2,300 meters. While lacking flowering time data, this distinctive conifer is characterized by its remarkable drooping branches that can extend all the way to the ground. Growing with a trunk less than 53 meters tall and up to 1.3 meters wide, the spruce features flexible needles under 3 centimeters long with blunt tips and faint white bands on the upper surface. Its needles have a unique appearance, being somewhat flat and flexible with subtle white markings that distinguish it from other conifers. The seed cones are oblong, measuring less than 12 centimeters long, with woody scales that have nearly entire margins.

Habitat: Uncommon. Cool, moist, forested slopes

Elevation: 560-2300 m

Bioregions: KR

California counties: Del Norte, Trinity, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Shasta

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.