660. Colorado blue spruce

The Colorado Blue spruce (Picea pungens glauca) , is a variety of the Colorado Spruce, is a medium to large, narrow, pyramidal conifer with horizontal branching to the ground. The foliage can vary from green to bright powder blue which can be attributed to a thicker-than-normal waxy coating on the true-green needles, refracting sunlight and reflecting it back to the human eye in a blue wave length. Genus names derived from Latin pix meaning “pitch” in reference to the sticky resin typically found in spruce bark. The specific epithet means “sharp-pointed” in reference to the stiff needles. Notably ‘Glauca’ is a natural variant of the Colorado Spruce; the glaucous character of the leaves given them a bluish tinge.

Marquand Park Specimen Label and Coordinates: MP #660.

Specimen Provenance:

Common name: Colorado Blue Spruce

Scientific Name (family and order): Picea pugens “Glauca” (Pinaceae, Pinales)

Species Origin: Western USA

New Jersey Status: USDA Unreported

Habit: 80 – 115’ tall; bole 1 ½ – 3’ diameter. Symmetrical pyramidal shape.

Habitat: Zones 2 – 7. High mountains on dry slopes and stream banks.

Trunk/Stem: Bark puple-gray scaly. Branches slightly to strongly drooping. Twigs usually hairless (compared to Engelmann Spruce).

Leaves: Evergreen, needle-like. Four sided very rigid, very prickly needles, 1 ¾” long, spine tipped, gray-green to blue–gray growing on pale brown shoots. The needles point outward from the branches in all directions. Often blue tint to foliage due to waxes on the needle surface.

Flowers: Monoecious

Fruits and seeds: Cone hanging, pale-brown 2 ½ – 4 1/2 ” long, ovoid to cylindrical, slightly curved. Scale tips narrow, acute, wavy

Why Dead Trees Matter

Contribution by Lilly Krauss:

When you venture in the wooded area of Marquand park, you may notice fallen trees and large branches on the ground. In this area of the park called natural woods, trees grow, mature, reproduce, die, and decompose without human intervention. Because dead trees are left undisturbed, natural woods have a healthier and more diverse ecosystem than wooded areas where fallen trees are routinely cleared.

When a fallen tree begins to rot on the ground, fungi and other microorganisms that live on dead wood break down the tree’s cell wall, thereby releasing carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other essential nutrients to the soil. This decomposition produces rich organic matter for other trees to use.

Even standing dead trees, called snags, play an important role in the forest by supplying food and microhabitats. You may find snags stripped of their bark because in particular, deer and other small animals like to eat the bark. Woodpeckers bore deep holes in snags to get at insects or larvae within. These holes become nesting sites for woodland birds. Rotting tree bases provide homes for small mammals. Finally, birds of prey use standing dead trees as lookouts.

To read more about the importance of natural woods:

Dead Wood by Dan Puplett.
Science News for Students, recycling the dead, by Kathiann Kowalski
The Biological Carbon Cycle, by Professor Patricia Shapley, University of Illinois, 2010
Science findings, PNW Pacific Northwest Research Station, issue twenty/ November 1999
Whether fallen or standing, trees have many uses, Karen Maserjian Shan, February 28, 2015

Japanese Knotweed

The recent discovery of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) around the parking lot of Marquand Park demands some attention. The perennial has a bamboo-like reddish stem, heart-shaped bright green leaves, and when blooming pretty little white-flower tassels. Introduced in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century, Japanese knotweed became popular as a garden plant because of its soft and pleasing effect. In the United States, Frederic Law Olmsted was responsible for planting it in Central Park.

Over time, the plant has become the most pernicious weed in Great Britain posing a threat to building structures and road surfaces. In the United States, Japanese knotweed is considered an invasive in 38 states and occurs on the New Jersey Invasive Plant Species List. The weed likes to grow along roads and in areas disturbed by human activity. It spreads like wildfire. Eradicating a cluster of plants is not easy. A home improvement website called the Spruce describes techniques such as using tarp to smother the weed; cutting and digging up the plant and its root system; and spraying and injecting knotweed with herbicides. In the United Kingdom, scientists are experimenting with the release of a plant eating insect called Aphalara itadori that feeds on the Japanese knotweed and kills the plant.

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