Once you reach the western coast of Canada, these trees face the Pacific Ocean and tower the tallest.
Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is a coastal species that ranges from the extreme southern coastal regions of Alaska, down through the coast of British Columbia, the big islands (Haida gwaii and Vancouver), gulf islands and coastal Washington state, Oregon and northern California. It's safe to say that this tree is familiar to most people living on the west coast of North America, whether they know it or not.
More tolerant to salt spray than other trees, these make up a prominent part of the coastal forests in the west of Canada and the United States. In some areas they predominate, like in Pacific Rim National Park in British Columbia. Here these trees extend up to the shoreline and quickly become driftwood when they fall into the sand.
They can be recognized by the many branches, papery cones 5-9cm long concentrated near the top, and tall straight growth habit when in a forest environment. The bark is white to silvery gray. It is most closely related to white spruce (Picea glauca) and hybridizes with it in the interior areas of B.C. producing a fast-growing hybrid known as Picea lutzii.
If you find yourself in a coastal area out west, you'll be certain to run into this species. Usually with other species such as western redcedar (thuja plicata), douglas-fir (pseudotsuga menziensii), western hemlock (tsuga heterophylla) and shore pine (pinus contorta) in a mixed coastal forest ecosystem. In addition to providing vast quantities of wood, the seed cones of this tree are highly-coveted late season food for wildlife in the area such as chipmunks and squirrels.
Out of all the spruces, Sitka spruce is the absolute largest, growing up to 100m tall in extremely tall specimens and over 5m wide in the most superlative trees. It is in fact the tallest species of tree in Canada, with the exceptional Carmanah Giant of Vancouver Island measuring over 95m tall. Only western redcedar and douglas-fir rival its height in the coastal ranges. With all these exceptional traits, a nice growth habit and its blue-green foliage's aesthetic appeal, the Sitka spruce is absolutely a tree worth knowing.