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Shoot of Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
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About 35; see text.
Norway Spruce (Picea abies) cone
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Spruce refers to trees of the Genus Picea, a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from 20-60 (-95) m tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical form. The needles, or leaves, of spruce trees are attached singly to the branches in a spiral fashion, each needle on a small peg-like structure called a pulvinus. The needles are shed when 4-10 years old, leaving the branches rough with the retained pulvini (an easy means of distinguishing them from other similar genera, where the branches are fairly smooth).
1 Classification
- 1 Cones with thickish scales; leaves quadrangular in cross-section: section Picea
- 1a Cones with (mostly) pointed scales; leaves blunt or somewhat pointed
- Norway Spruce Picea abies. Europe; important in forestry. The original Christmas tree.
- Dragon Spruce Picea asperata. Western ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute; several varieties.
- Meyer's Spruce Picea meyeri. Northern ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute.
- Korean Spruce Picea koraiensis. KoreaKorea is a formerly unified country, situated on the Korean Peninsula in north East Asia adjacent to China in the west and Russia in the north. When World War II ended in 1945, the country was divided into two: the Republic of Korea ( South Korea) and the, northeast ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute.
- Koyama's Spruce Picea koyamae. JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh (mountains).
- 1b Cones with smoothly rounded scales; leaves blunt or somewhat pointed
- Caucasian Spruce or Oriental Spruce Picea orientalis. CaucasusThe Caucasus is a region in eastern Europe and western Asia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands. It is occasionally considered part of Central Asia. The highest peak is Elbrus (5642m), w, northeast TurkeyTurkey (officially the Republic of Turkey Turkish Turkiye is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part in southeastern Europe. Until 1922 the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the.
- Yushan Spruce Picea morrisonicola. TaiwanFor the political entity commonly known as "Taiwan," see Republic of China. The island of Taiwan ( Traditional: , Simplified: , Pinyin: Taiwn, Wade-Giles: T'ai-wan, Taiwanese: Tai-oan) is located off the coast of China in the Pacific Ocean. It is also kno (high mountains).
- Wilson's Spruce Picea wilsonii. Western China.
- Siberian Spruce Picea obovata. North Scandinavia, Siberia. Often treated as a variant of P. abies (and hybridises with it) but distinct cones.
- Schrenk's Spruce Picea schrenkiana. Mountains of central Asia.
- Morinda Spruce Picea smithiana. Western Himalaya.
- Alpine Spruce Picea alpestris. The Alps in Europe; rare, often treated as a variant of P. abies (and hybridises with it) but distinct cones.
- 1c Cones with smoothly rounded scales; leaves viciously sharp-pointed
- Maximowicz Spruce Picea maximowiczii. Japan (rare, mountains).
- Tiger-tail Spruce Picea torano. Japan.
- Veitch's Spruce Picea neoveitchii. Northwest China (rare, endangered).
- Martinez Spruce Picea martinezii. Northeast Mexico (very rare, endangered).
- Chihuahua Spruce Picea chihuahuana. Northwest Mexico (rare).
- 2 Cones with thickish wavy scales, leaves slightly to strongly flattened: section Omorika
- 2a Cones mostly with rounded scales; leaves flattened in section, white below
- 2b Cones mostly with wavy scales; leaves slightly flattened in section, often paler below
- Black Spruce Picea mariana. Northern North America.
- Red Spruce Picea rubens. Northeastern North America; important in forestry.
- Glehn's Spruce Picea glehnii. Northern Japan, Sakhalin.
- Alcock's Spruce Picea alcockiana ("P. bicolor"). Central Japan (mountains).
- Purple Spruce Picea purpurea. Western China.
- Balfour's Spruce Picea balfouriana. Western China.
- Likiang Spruce Picea likiangensis. Southwest China.
- Sikkim Spruce Picea spinulosa. Eastern Himalaya.
- 3 Cones with very thin, wavy scales: section Casicta
