Alcock’s Spruce (Picea bicolor ‘Howell’s Dwarf’)
Identifying Features
Plant Family: Pinaceae
Leaf: evergreen needles, needles green above and silver-blue beneath
Twig and Bud: twig shiny, yellow-brown to red-brown
Flower, Fruit and Seed: cylindrical seed cone, 2-5 inches long, cone purple-red when young and matures to dark brown
Bark: pale gray to gray-brown, thin, splits into narrow, scaly strips
Shape and Mature Height: shrub with flat, spreading habit, 3-8 feet tall
Garden Value and Considerations
Alcock’s spruce grows in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils with full sun to light shade. Best used as a specimen plant, in rock gardens or around foundations.
Notes
Picea bicolor is synonymous with Picea alcoquiana. It is native to subalpine forests in the mountains of central Japan. It was collected by John Gould Veitch while ascending Mount Fuji and named for Sir Rutherford Alcock, British minister to Tokyo from 1858 to 1862, who accompanied Veitch on the climb.
