NATURE TABLE: Sitka Spruce

Sitka spruce is nowadays the species of choice for forestry plantations, both private and state-owned, on poorer land.

This means that it is probably the commonest tree in Ireland. Conifers can be hard to tell apart.

From a distance Sitka is characterised by a bluish tinge to the foliage, close-up the stiff, thorn-like needles are a good clue to identification. Sitka is an island in the Alaskan Panhandle and the native range of this tree is a narrow coastal strip stretching down from southern Alaska as far as northern California.