Picea sitchensis 'Papoose' is a dense, multi-stemmed dwarf selection of Sitka spruce that will achieve a mature height of 4 to 6 feet (2.5 - 3 m) tall and wide after 10 years, growing as a tight globe, but with age may develop a leader and assume a more broadly conical shape. Annual growth is only 2 to 3 inches (5 - 7.5 cm). Its silver-highlighted needles are stiff and sharp. Like all Sitka spruces, it longs for the sea and does not do well more than 50 miles inland from the moderating salt air.
This cultivar originated on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, growing in the wild and found by Gordon Bentham in 1964. He later gave the plant to the Parks Department of the British Columbia's capital city of Victoria. It was later introduced to the nursery trade via William Goddard, Floravista Nursery, Victoria, BC, Canada. This cultivar is sometimes seen listed in the nursery trade as 'Trinket.'
