Picea abies (Norway Spruce)

The name 'Picea' comes from the latin for 'pitch pine'. It is native throughout northeast Europe from Norway and Poland eastward, and also in the mountains of central Europe, southwest to the western end of the Alps, and southeast in the Carpathians and Balkans to the extreme north of Greece. It was introduced to Britain from mainland Europe.

On the Continent 'Spruce beer' is made from the distillate of shoots and leaves mixed with treacle. The buds, leaves and resin can all be used for medicinal purposes. The wood is medium/hard fairly, elastic and durable under water; so is used in carpentry/joinery; even for making musical instruments.  It is also widely used to manufacture paper. 

The tree grows best in moist, free draining, slightly acidic, fertile soil in full sun. It will survive in dry conditions but much prefers cooler climates.

A large evergreen conical shaped tree that can grow up to 55m and has a trunk up to 1.5m in diameter. The bark is red-brown and flakey becoming grey/brown and scaly with age. New stems are orange/brown and covered in short 1-2.4cm dark green 4 sided needles. It produces cylindrical cones which are 9-17cm long; the longest of any spruce.  The cones start off green but mature to red and then brown, they have triangular, pointed scales and contain black 4-5mm winged seeds which are released in autumn.



Picea abies as a Christmas tree

This tree has been the traditional British choice for many years. It has short, pointed dark green needles which have a slight snell of pine. The branches gently droop making it conical in shape. Although a relatively dense tree, spaces in the branches make hanging baubles and decorations relatively easy.

They do tend to drop their needles a fair amount and heavier decorations do make the branches droop noticeably.