Spruce tree bark and needles showing identification features for wildcrafting resin

Part 2 — How to Identify Spruce (and Pine) Trees for Resin Harvesting

Before we can harvest resin or talk about purification, we need to start with something simple: learning how to recognize spruce and pine trees. These are the two main trees that produce the resin used in traditional wildcraft gum, salves, and many of the handmade products we create.

The good news is that once you know a few key features, both trees become incredibly easy to identify, even for complete beginners. This guide is meant for anyone who wants to feel confident in their tree ID during a walk in the woods.

Why Tree Identification Matters

Knowing you’re working with the right tree is the foundation of everything that comes next in this resin series. Spruce and pine produce resin differently, and both can be used for gum, purification, and crafting. Once you learn their key features, the forest opens up in a whole new way.

Tree ID shouldn’t feel intimidating. These trees have clear, simple identifying markers that make them easy to recognize once you know what to look for.

The Three Features That Make Spruce Easy to Spot

1. Sharp, Individually Attached Needles

Spruce needles are stiff, pointy, and attached to the branch one at a time. If you gently pinch a twig and it pokes your fingers, you’re likely holding spruce. This is one of the quickest beginner-friendly tests.

          Spruce branch with needles attached individually to the stem

2. Tiny Wooden Pegs on the Branch

Spruce twigs feel rough or bumpy, even after the needles fall off. This is because each needle grows from a tiny wooden peg, called a sterigma. These pegs stay on the branch. Fir branches, in comparison, feel smooth.

3. Needles Grow All the Way Around the Twig (360°)

Spruce needles sprout in every direction around the branch.
If the needles lie flat on two sides, that’s fir.
If the needles grow in bundles, that’s pine.
If they surround the branch in all directions, that’s spruce.

A simple rule of thumb: if the needles poke, and the twig feels rough, it’s spruce.

Spruce vs Pine vs Fir (Simple Comparison)

Spruce: sharp needles, single attachment, rough twigs, needles all around the branch, cones hang downward.
Pine: long soft needles in bundles, smooth twigs, cones hang downward.
Fir: flat soft needles, attached directly to the branch, smooth twigs, cones stand upright.

           Jack Pine twig with needles attached in bundles to the stem

Common Spruce Species in Western Canada

White Spruce
Blue-green needles, extremely common, resin often abundant on older or storm-damaged trees.

Black Spruce
Short needles, found in wetter areas, tall and skinny with a tufted top.

Engelmann Spruce
Mountain and foothill regions, slight blue tint, long papery cones.

All three produce excellent resin.

A Quick Note About Pine Resin

While spruce resin is a classic for gum making, pine resin is equally important and often just as abundant. Many traditional gum makers, including us, work with a blend of both spruce and pine resins.

Pine resin can form larger, softer globules, stays sticky longer, is beautifully aromatic, and adds excellent elasticity when blended with spruce. Many of our older resin photographs include pine, and it is a major part of traditional gum craft.

How to Identify Pine Trees

Pine Needles
Grow in bundles (clusters of 2, 3, or 5). Much longer than spruce needles. Soft and flexible. They do not poke your fingers.

                       Ponderosa Pine needles- long and slick in clusters

Pine Branches
Smooth where needles fall off, often layered in a fan-like pattern, with an airy, open canopy.

Overall Look
Straight trunk, plated or blocky bark, wide spacing between branches.

Pine Resin
Forms large golden droplets, drips dramatically, has a deep sweet scent, and hardens slowly.

Pine resin is excellent for gum making and blends beautifully with spruce.

Spruce Resin vs Pine Resin

Spruce Resin
Firmer when hardened, chews into a tighter gum, sharper woodsy flavor, melts cleanly during purification.

                                                   Spruce Resin

Pine Resin
Stickier at first, warmer sweeter aroma, forms large glossy droplets, adds smoothness and elasticity.

                                                        Pine Resin

Blending Both
A spruce–pine blend chews longer, softens beautifully, and tastes distinctly traditional. This is why both resins appear in our photos and in our gum.

Where Resin Forms Most Often (Spruce and Pine)

Resin forms on natural wounds from:

  • wildlife

  • wind

  • fallen branches

  • frost cracks

  • equipment bumps

  • old scars

You will find resin on:

  • branch stubs

  • trunk wounds

  • the base of trees

  • storm-damaged sides

  • splits in bark

  • under moss or dried bark

These patterns apply to both spruce and pine. Once you learn what resin looks like, you will start spotting it everywhere.

What Not to Harvest From

Avoid harvesting from:

  • freshly cut or intentionally wounded trees

  • chemically sprayed areas

  • railways or highway edges

  • black, sludgy, diseased resin

  • fresh wounds that have not sealed

We harvest only from natural wounds and never from cuts we create.

Spruce Trees vs “Spruce Gum Trees”

Some people believe only certain trees produce gum-quality resin. This is not true. All spruce and all pine trees can produce resin. Some trees simply experience more damage, more wind, more sunlight, or are older, which results in more resin.

Any spruce or pine can form usable resin under the right conditions.


Next in the Series: How to Find Resin Easily

Now that you can identify the right trees, Part 3 will teach you where resin appears most often, how to spot it quickly, and how to develop the “resin eye” that makes harvesting easier and faster.

Coming soon.

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