It was named after a Russian botanist, taxonomist, Sakhalin and Amur river regions explorer, geographer and hydrographer Peter von Glehn[4] (1835—1876), the person who was the first to describe this conifer.

It also appears on Mount Hayachine of the Kitakami range in the Northern part of Honshu (Iwate prefecture), as well as in the Southern part of Russian island Sakhalin (along Aniva Bay, in the Mereya river valley, near Bolshoye Vavaiskoye lake and Busse lagoon).

Glehn's spruce grows within the range of 0 to 1600 meters above sea level in low places and on cold and excessively wet soil on rocky subsoil.

Young sprouts are usually orange or wine red, haired in grooves and on stalk 1 millimeter in length.

The spruce is included into the Red Book of Sakhalin region, it is also kept under protection in Japanese national parks, especially in the area of Honshu Island.