Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm. var. engelmannii. Also commonly referred to as Engelmann Spruce. Note the lower branches where cones have fallen. The close shot at www.flickr.com/photos/tonyfrates/6513452137/ was from one of those lower long spreading branches.Trees can be 50 meters or taller. Bark is red to purple-brown compared to the light to dark gray of Blue Spruce, Picea pungens. The form of the tree above is closer to Blue Spruce than typical Engelmann's Spruce.September 5, 2011, Wasatch Plateau, Huntington Canyon, Emery County, Utah, approx. 7,185 ft. elev. Most commonly found at 8,000 ft but often occurs between 6,500 and 8,000 ft. in Utah; the lower elevation coupled with the additional growing room around it may account for the fullness of this tree than is necessarily typical. Blue Spruce grows with it and in the same general elevational range but supposedly the two species do not hybridize.
2011-03-14 Lower Austria, district Wien-Umgebung (Fischa wet meadow, 167 m AMSL).Amidst dense growth of reed in a very wet habitat (soaking wet throughout the year both due to floods of nearby Fischa and high ground water levels).Fir and spruce trees don't ever grow in such habitats in natural conditions, and even those planted ones here obviously struggle (I've seen a couple of dead ones too, none are in this shot though).However, they needn't survive longer than a good ten years, as this is a Christmas tree plantation. The tree in front is some non-native Picea species (I couldn't determine species); in the background there might also be some Abies nordmanniana which are popular for Christmas trees (I didn't check on them more closely).German names: Fichte - Christbaumkultur (+ Europa-Schilf)