This northeastern tree ("red spruce") occurs at high elevation in the Appalachians. It has not been recorded from Ky., but it might have occurred here before settlement. There is a curious historical reference to 2,226 thousand board-feet of red spruce lumber produced in Ky. during 1909 (Murphy 1917: Tables 1 and 3). Presumably mills used trees floated down into the Big Sandy Rv. from Va. and W.Va. There are records of red spruce from ca. 50 miles away in those states (HFG, HW+, K). There may also have been confusion with Tsuga canadensis, which was known as "spruce pine" in pioneer Ky.