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Picea abies

Picea abies

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Plantae
Order
Pinales
Family
Pinaceae - conifers
Genus
Picea
Species
PICEA ABIES
Synonyms
Norway spruce

Habitat / Home / Areal

It originates from the Northern Hemisphere – from Western and North America, Europe, Mexico and Asia.

Botanical description

Habitus: The tree is upright, properly branched, with a conical crown, and can grow up to 55 meters in height. The branches are arranged in whorls, hanging, horizontal or slightly rising. The crown is narrow, pyramidal in shape, regularly branched and with a pointed tip. The root is shallow and without a main vein and produces numerous side shoots. The bark is thin, smooth, gray and finely scaly when young, and dark red when old and peels off in round scales. The buds are dark orange in color, not resinous, the top buds are blunt, conical to pointed ovoid, slightly larger than the lateral buds, which are light to dark brown and mostly pointed.

Flower: The flowers are monoecious (male and female flowers are on the same tree), blooming from April to June. Male flowers are reddish to red-yellow, initially spherical, slightly elongated after pollination, about 2 cm long, growing between needles on last year’s branches. The female flowers are purple-red and initially upright, but as the cones grow after fertilization they become hanging and brown, they are up to 18 cm long, about 4 cm wide, they grow on the top of last year’s branches, they are made of a large number of spirally arranged fertile scales that have two seed embryos at the base and they are covered by covering scales that are undulatingly serrated.

Leaf: The needles are evenly arranged spirally around the twigs, pointed, flat, four-edged, stiff, slightly bent, 10-25 mm long and about 1 mm wide and have a short petiole. The needles remain on the tree for 5-7 years. .

Growth conditions / Cultivation / Care

A type of tree that can be fast-growing or slow-growing. It thrives best in moist soil, e.g. mountain forests or taiga. It is best planted in well-drained sandy loam.

Gallery

Use / Function and landscape

  • Solitary planting
  • Planting in groups
  • Branches with leaves for cutting (for arranging)
  • Arrangement cones
  • Christmas decoration

Reproduction

It is propagated by cuttings or by sowing seeds (the most common method of propagation in the forest, the seeds fall from the parent tree). Cones are most often used for propagation.

Varieties

Picea abies Inversa

Picea  abies Nidiformis

Picea abies Little Gem

Picea abies Tompa

Diseases and pests

Diseases: rust, damping off and dropping of needles.

Pests: aphids, spider mites and woolly adelgid.