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United States / Grow / white spruce

white spruce (Picea glauca)
Photo: (c) Jason Grant, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

white spruce

Picea glauca · Pinaceae · all Picea records · Wikipedia

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Is this one for your yard?

Enter your ZIP to see whether this is legal to plant in your state, and whether it survives your winter.

The Picea glauca file for picea glauca splits keep away recommendation. On picea glauca, hardiness rows sits versus that picea glauca row. The facts answer different questions on Picea glauca. avoid and 3 hardiness assertions stay split for picea glauca.

On picea glauca, Picea glauca also carries same form alternatives for picea glauca.

Use evidence on picea glauca for picea glauca. The jumps stay with picea glauca on Picea glauca.

Fire-resistant trees instead

Form
tree
Mature height
~40 ft
Light
Full sun
Water need
moderate
Rated in
Catalonia, Spain; Global; Michigan / Great Lakes; Ohio / Midwest +2
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Highly flammable — location does not change the cited classification.
Placement evidence
3 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions
Catalonia, Spain; Global; Michigan / Great Lakes; Ohio / Midwest; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US
Typed publication scope: 3 scopes across 3 cited fire sources
  • Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · Official scoped edition
    • MI; partial normalized coverage · 2007-01-01

      Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E2948 is explicitly a list of wildfire-resistant landscape plants for Michigan and includes a Michigan-native field. FireApproved publishes 221 exact GBIF owners from 226 represented source rows and holds 15 complex or non-exact rows. This dated publication scope is not a current site-suitability determination.

  • Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) · Official scoped edition
    • OH; partial normalized coverage · 2006-03-01

      Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 921 is an Ohio publication that describes Ohio fire seasons and landscape conditions and labels nativity to Ohio. FireApproved publishes 352 exact source-owning plant records from its eight rated tables. This historical publication scope does not assert current extension endorsement or that a listed plant suits every Ohio site.

  • Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) · Official scoped edition
    • VA; partial normalized coverage · 2009-04-15

      Virginia Cooperative Extension's publication opens with Virginia wildfire conditions, identifies its Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force, and labels plants native to Virginia. FireApproved publishes 306 exact source owners. Publication scope does not establish parcel suitability or current endorsement of this archived 2009 list.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution
Documented in AK, CT, DC, DE, ID, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SD, VT, WI, WV, WY.
USDA hardiness
2 applicable cited hardiness statements overlap but have different boundaries; compare each complete source row.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Recommends (1)

Avoids (4)

Listed without a rating (92)
Corroboration (92 rows from 1 source)

  • FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

    92 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.

    • Primary study Hough1969: Hough, W. A. (1969). Caloric Value of Some Forest Fuels of the Southern United States. Res. Note SE-120. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station.

      Shared row context: Combustibility measurement; fuel all; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Hough1969-3; sampling june.

      • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 4700”

        FLAMITS record 5032; plant part leaves.

      • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 5050”

        FLAMITS record 5033; plant part twigs.

    • Primary study Melnik2021: Melnik, O. M., Paskaluk, S. A., Ackerman, M. Y., Melnik, K. O., Thompson, D. K., McAllister, S. S., & Flannigan, M. D. (2022). New in-flame flammability testing method applied to monitor seasonal changes in live fuel. Fire, 5, 1.

      Shared row context: Combustibility measurement; plant part twigs; fuel live; predrying no; device calorimeter; site Melnik2021-1.

      • Shared measurement context: sampling may.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 1319.31”

          FLAMITS record 9162.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2504.78”

          FLAMITS record 9168.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2736.61”

          FLAMITS record 9174.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2646.4”

          FLAMITS record 9180.

      • Shared measurement context: sampling june.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 1288.24”

          FLAMITS record 9163.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2413.95”

          FLAMITS record 9169.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2523.9”

          FLAMITS record 9175.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2263.38”

          FLAMITS record 9181.

      • Shared measurement context: sampling july.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 1940.72”

          FLAMITS record 9164.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2456.97”

          FLAMITS record 9170.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2535.85”

          FLAMITS record 9176.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2375.71”

          FLAMITS record 9182.

      • Shared measurement context: sampling august.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2430.68”

          FLAMITS record 9165.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2619.5”

          FLAMITS record 9171.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2652.96”

          FLAMITS record 9177.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2600.38”

          FLAMITS record 9183.

      • Shared measurement context: sampling september.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2327.91”

          FLAMITS record 9166.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2535.85”

          FLAMITS record 9172.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2621.89”

          FLAMITS record 9178.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2538.24”

          FLAMITS record 9184.

      • Shared measurement context: sampling october.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2287.28”

          FLAMITS record 9167.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2504.78”

          FLAMITS record 9173.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2688.81”

          FLAMITS record 9179.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2576.48”

          FLAMITS record 9185.

    • Primary study White1997: White, R. H., DeMars, D., & Bishop, M. (1997). Flammability of Christmas trees and other vegetation. Proceedings of the 24th international conference on fire safety. Melbourne, Australia.

      Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying no; device calorimeter; site White1997-1; sampling spring.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “time to flaming (s): 139”

          FLAMITS record 14107.

        • “time to flaming (s): 130”

          FLAMITS record 14108.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 134”

          FLAMITS record 14118.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 110.9”

          FLAMITS record 14119.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2101”

          FLAMITS record 14129.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 1934”

          FLAMITS record 14130.

    • Primary study Fazeli2022: Fazeli, H., Jolly, W. M., & Blunck, D. L. (2022). Stages and time-scales of ignition and burning of live fuels for different convective heat fluxes. Fuel, 324, 124490.

      Shared row context: Ignitability measurement; plant part leaves; predrying no; device flat flame burner; site Fazeli2022-1; sampling september to february.

      • Shared measurement context: fuel live.

        • “time to flaming (s): 5.5”

          FLAMITS record 16484.

        • “time to flaming (s): 25.8”

          FLAMITS record 16485.

      • Shared measurement context: fuel dead.

        • “time to flaming (s): 2”

          FLAMITS record 16486.

        • “time to flaming (s): 2.9”

          FLAMITS record 16487.

    • Primary study Vermesi 2017: Vermesi, I., DiDomizio, M. J., Richter, F., Weckman, E. J., & Rein, G. (2017). Pyrolysis and spontaneous ignition of wood under transient irradiation: Experiments and a-priori predictions. Fire Safety Journal, 91, 218.224

      Shared row context: plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Vermesi 2017-1; sampling ND.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “time to flaming (s): 630”

          FLAMITS record 17578.

        • “time to flaming (s): 594”

          FLAMITS record 17579.

        • “time to flaming (s): 588”

          FLAMITS record 17580.

        • “time to flaming (s): 552”

          FLAMITS record 17581.

        • “time to flaming (s): 588”

          FLAMITS record 17582.

        • “time to flaming (s): 570”

          FLAMITS record 17583.

        • “time to flaming (s): 588”

          FLAMITS record 17584.

        • “time to flaming (s): 612”

          FLAMITS record 17585.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 434”

          FLAMITS record 17586.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 422”

          FLAMITS record 17587.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 418”

          FLAMITS record 17588.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 390”

          FLAMITS record 17589.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 436”

          FLAMITS record 17590.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 413”

          FLAMITS record 17591.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 431”

          FLAMITS record 17592.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 455”

          FLAMITS record 17593.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 6.2”

          FLAMITS record 17594.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 4.8”

          FLAMITS record 17595.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 2.1”

          FLAMITS record 17596.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 4.1”

          FLAMITS record 17597.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 2.9”

          FLAMITS record 17598.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 0.2”

          FLAMITS record 17599.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 2.4”

          FLAMITS record 17600.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 5.9”

          FLAMITS record 17601.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 30”

          FLAMITS record 17602.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 32”

          FLAMITS record 17603.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 32”

          FLAMITS record 17604.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 29”

          FLAMITS record 17605.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 31”

          FLAMITS record 17606.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 29”

          FLAMITS record 17607.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 31”

          FLAMITS record 17608.

        • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 34”

          FLAMITS record 17609.

    • Primary study Zhai2017: Zhai, C., Gong, J., Zhou, X., Peng, F., & Yang, L. (2017). Pyrolysis and spontaneous ignition of wood under time-dependent heat flux. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 125, 100–108.

      Shared row context: plant part wood; fuel dead; predrying no; device burning bench; site Zhai2017-1; sampling ND.

      • Shared measurement context: Ignitability measurement.

        • “time to flaming (s): 259”

          FLAMITS record 17610.

        • “time to flaming (s): 194”

          FLAMITS record 17611.

        • “time to flaming (s): 157”

          FLAMITS record 17612.

        • “time to flaming (s): 137”

          FLAMITS record 17613.

        • “time to flaming (s): 115”

          FLAMITS record 17614.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 303”

          FLAMITS record 17620.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 311”

          FLAMITS record 17621.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 316”

          FLAMITS record 17622.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 326”

          FLAMITS record 17623.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 335”

          FLAMITS record 17624.

        • “time to flaming (s): 241”

          FLAMITS record 17625.

        • “time to flaming (s): 191”

          FLAMITS record 17626.

        • “time to flaming (s): 127”

          FLAMITS record 17627.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 3.6”

          FLAMITS record 17631.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 3.7”

          FLAMITS record 17632.

        • “temperature at flaming (°C): 309”

          FLAMITS record 17633.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 8”

          FLAMITS record 17615.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 7.8”

          FLAMITS record 17616.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 7.9”

          FLAMITS record 17617.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 8”

          FLAMITS record 17618.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 7.7”

          FLAMITS record 17619.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 7.7”

          FLAMITS record 17628.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 7.8”

          FLAMITS record 17629.

        • “mass loss rate per area (g/m² s): 7.6”

          FLAMITS record 17630.

Fire-resistant trees instead

paper birch
Betula papyrifera quaking aspen
Populus tremuloides boxelder
Acer negundo honeylocust
Gleditsia triacanthos smooth sumac
Rhus glabra green ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Fire-resistant trees listed above

Same genus in the directory · the Picea group page

Guides that discuss this plant

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Picea glauca (White spruce). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/picea-glauca/. Last verified 2026-08-23.