10 Facts You May Not Have Known About Colorado’s State Tree

You can find Colorado's state tree growing all over the Western Slope. It flourishes near Grand Junction on the Grand Mesa, in areas of Glade Park, and the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests.

More Trees: Exploring Colorado's Hidden Giants: The Bristlecone Pines

Find out ten cool facts you can take with you on your next hike that will help you identify the Colorado Blue Spruce Pine in the photo gallery below.

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Colorado's Blue Spruce Pine

Dr. C.C. Parry is credited for the discovery and classification of the Blue Spruce Pine in 1862. The tree was studied on the slopes of Pikes Peak, and was given its name for the silver and blue colors displayed thanks to the wax or white powder found on the needles. Picea pungens is also known as a Green spruce, Colorado spruce, and Colorado Blue spruce.

The Best Elevation for Blue Spruce Pine

Colorado's state tree flourishes between an elevation of 6,000 to 11,500 feet. They love moist and mulchy soil found in spruce-fir woods and thrive with about six hours of direct sunlight every day. The Blue Spruce Pine can continue to grow on mountain slopes up to the edge of the timberline just below 12,000 feet.

Colorado's Record-Setting Blue Spruce Pine

Some of the largest Blue Spruce Pines on record in Colorado were recorded back in the 1980s in the Gunnison National Forest where some of the trees were listed in the 1982 National Register of Big Trees as growing to a height of 38.4 meters (126 feet).

Get to know Colorado's amazing Blue Spruce Pine in the gallery below.