They look like cone buds.

I've never seen them black colored like that.

Are you sure it's white spruce? (picea glauca).

Yeah, positive it is picea glauca pendula.

why so many of them? Seems excessive for such a small tree

I wish I knew.

My species Picea glauca have quite a few cones coming this season.

Standard light brown bud caps with pinkish, purple cones.

long ago.. and far away ... resin suggested that confiers had mast years.. just like nut trees ...

or i dreamed it ...

ken

what is the different colored one just above your index finger??/

and i also seem to recall .. a couple examples of transplants doing this the year after planting.. and then not cone gain until maturity .. or about ten years later ...

ken

I guess they could be cones. I just checked my 15 year old which is also is having a mast year and even the smallest cones have scales apparent. Have you got strobili on yours? This tiny guy is only 1-2 mm in size.

And a poor pic with my finger behind for size reference.

tj

That's intriguing!

My species trees, have the paper like cone coverings, same as new growth and can be hard to tell the difference until the coverings rupture revealing either green or red inside.

Appears all of mine are having a 'Mast Year', even the smaller ones.

scales like the one above his index finger.. about an inch in the pic?

im wondering about pollen sacs ... unless you guys are calling those cones also ...

That’s why I asked about strobili.

tj

Can't see any strobili yet.

There is one tree here with very few cones showing sporophylls, so maybe that tree will show a greater tendency to produce male strobili. Strobili must develop later in the game.

Actually, on my tree, the strobili formed first.

tj

Mine have produced viable seed in the past so they're getting pollinated from somewhere. Aren't they supposed to be monoecious?

Yes, they are, which is why I have both on my plant now.

tj

Aha!

The (male strobili) were on branches barely below the seed cones and not as numerous. They don't appear to have the same papery covering like the growth buds and F. cone buds.

Some of the larger trees had very few of them.