Picea abies, the听Norway spruce听or听European spruce,听is a species of听听native to听,听听补苍诲听.
It has听听that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any听, 9鈥�17 cm long. It is very closely related to the听听(Picea obovata), which replaces it east of the听, and with which it hybridizes freely. The Norway spruce has a wide distribution for it being planted for its wood, and is the species used as the main听听in several countries around the world. It was the first听听to have its听. The Latin听听abies听means "like听, Fir tree".
Description
Norway spruce is a large, fast-growing听听听听growing 35鈥�55听m (115鈥�180听ft) tall and with a trunk diameter of 1 to 1.5 m. It can grow fast when young, up to 1 m per year for the first 25 years under good conditions, but becomes slower once over 20听m (65听ft) tall.听The shoots are orange-brown and glabrous. The听听are needle-like with blunt tips,听12鈥�14 mm long, quadrangular in cross-section, and dark green on all four sides with inconspicuous听听lines. The听听are 9鈥�17 cm long (the longest of any spruce), and have bluntly to sharply triangular-pointed scale tips. They are green or reddish, maturing brown 5鈥�7 months after pollination. The听听are black, 4鈥�5 mm long, with a pale brown 15 mm wing.听The tallest measured Norway spruce is 62.26听m (204听ft) tall and grows near听,听.
Range and ecology
The Norway spruce grows throughout Europe from Norway in the northwest 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. The northern limit is in the arctic, just north of听听in Norway. Its eastern limit in Russia is hard to define, due to extensive听听and intergradation with the听, but is usually given as the Ural Mountains. However, trees showing some Siberian spruce characters extend as far west as much of northern Finland, with a few records in northeast Norway. The hybrid is known as听Picea听脳听fennica听(or听P.听abies听subsp.听fennica, if the two听听are considered听), and can be distinguished by a tendency towards having hairy shoots and cones with smoothly rounded scales.
Norway spruce cone scales are used as food by the听听of the听听, whereas听听feeds on the bark around injuries or听.
Taxonomy
Populations in southeast Europe tend to have on average longer cones with more pointed scales; these are sometimes distinguished as Picea abies听var.听acuminata, but there is extensive overlap in variation with trees from other parts of the range.
Some botanists treat听听as a subspecies of Norway spruce, though in their typical forms, they are very distinct, the Siberian spruce having cones only 5鈥�10听cm long, with smoothly rounded scales, and pubescent shoots.听听Norway and Siberian spruces have turned out to be extremely similar and may be considered as two closely related听听of听P.听abies.
Another spruce with smoothly rounded cone scales and hairy shoots occurs rarely in the Central Alps in eastern听. It is also distinct in having thicker, blue-green leaves. Many texts treat this as a variant of Norway spruce, but it is as distinct as many other spruces, and appears to be more closely related to Siberian spruce (), Schrenk's spruce () from central听听and Morinda spruce () in the听. Treated as a distinct species, it takes the name Alpine spruce (). As with Siberian spruce, it hybridizes extensively with Norway spruce; pure specimens are rare. Hybrids are commonly known as Norwegian spruce, which should not be confused with the pure species Norway spruce.
Cultivation
The Norway spruce is one of the most widely planted spruces, both in and outside of its native range, and one of the most economically important coniferous species in Europe.听It is used as an ornamental tree in听听补苍诲听. It is also widely planted for use as a听. Every Christmas, the Norwegian capital city, Oslo, provides the cities of London (the听), Edinburgh and Washington, D.C., with a Norway spruce, which is placed at the central most square of each city. This is mainly a sign of gratitude for the aid these countries gave during the Second World War.听In North America, Norway spruce is widely planted, specifically in the听,听, and听, as well as in southeastern Canada. It is naturalised in some parts of North America. There are naturalized populations occurring from听听to听, and it is probable that they occur elsewhere.听Norway spruces are more tolerant of hot, humid weather than many conifers which do not thrive except in cool-summer areas and they will grow up to USDA Growing Zone 8.
Seed production begins when the tree is in its fourth decade and total lifespan is up to 300 years in its natural range in Europe. Introduced Norway spruces in the British Isles and North America have a much shorter life expectancy. As the tree ages, its crown thins out and lower branches die off.
In the northern US and Canada, Norway spruce is reported as invasive in some locations; however, it does not pose a problem in听听and up as the seeds have a significantly reduced germination rate in areas with hot, humid summers.
The Norway spruce tolerates acidic soils well, but does not do well on dry or deficient soils. From 1928 until the 1960s it was planted on surface mine spoils in Indiana.
Cultivars
Several听听have been selected as ornamentals (鈥楤arrya鈥�, 鈥楥apitata鈥�, 鈥楧ecumbens鈥�, 鈥楧umosa鈥�, 鈥楥lanbrassiliana鈥�, 鈥楪regoryana鈥�, 鈥業nversa鈥�, 鈥楳icrosperma鈥�, 鈥楴idiformis鈥�, 鈥極hlendorffii鈥�, 鈥楻epens鈥�, 鈥楾abuliformis鈥�, 鈥楳axwellii鈥�, 'Virgata', 'Inversa', 鈥楶endula鈥�), with a wide variety of sizes and shapes, from full-sized forest trees to extremely slow-growing, prostrate forms. They are occasionally traded under the obsolete听听Picea excelsa听(an听).听The following cultivars have gained the听's听:
- 'Acrocona'听- 4听m (13听ft) tall and broad
- 'Clanbrassiliana'听- 1.2听m (3.9听ft) tall by 2.4听m (7.9听ft) broad
- 'Inversa'听- 9听m (30听ft) tall by 4听m (13听ft) broad
- 'Little Gem'听- 0.5听m (1.6听ft) tall and broad
- 'Nidiformis'听- 1.5听m (4.9听ft) tall by 4听m (13听ft) broad
Uses
The Norway spruce is used in听听for ()听,听补苍诲听 production.
The Norwegian company听听produces the synthetic substitute for natural vanilla听听using the Norwegian spruce.听They are currently the only company to produce wood based vanillin and is claimed by the company to be preferred by their customers due to, among other reasons, its much lower carbon footprint than petrochemically synthesized vanillin.
It is esteemed as a source of听听by stringed-instrument makers.听One form of the tree called听听[]听(Hazel-spruce) grows in the European Alps and has been recognized by听听as intangible cultural heritage. This form was used by听听for instruments.
As food
The tree is the source of听, which was once used to prevent and even cure听.听This high vitamin C content can be consumed as a tea from the shoot tips or even eaten straight from the tree when light green and new in spring.
Norway spruce shoot tips have been used in traditional Austrian medicine internally (as syrup or tea) and externally (as baths, for inhalation, as ointments, as resin application or as tea) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, locomotor system, gastrointestinal tract and infections.
During the production of听听it is wrapped in a "sangle" made from the听听of a Norway spruce (French:听听[]) for about two weeks at least, which gives the cheese a unique flavour.
Longevity
A press release from听听says that a Norway spruce clone named听, carbon dated as 9,550 years old, is the "oldest living tree".听The oldest individual specimen of Norway spruce discovered by tree ring dating found in 2012 in a nature reserve of Buskerud County, Norway was found to be 532 years old.
However,听, a stand of 47,000听听clones, is estimated to be between 14,000 and one million years old.
The stress is on the difference between the singular "oldest tree" and the multiple "oldest trees", and between "oldest clone" and "oldest non-clone". Old Tjikko is one of a series of genetically identical clones growing from a root system, one part of which is estimated to be 9,550 years old based on carbon dating. The oldest known individual tree (that has not taken advantage of听) is a Great Basin听听over 5,000 years old (germination in 3051 BC).
Genetics
The genome of听Picea abies听was sequenced in 2013, the first gymnosperm genome to be completely sequenced.听The genome contains approximately 20 billion base pairs and is about six times the size of the human genome, despite possessing a similar number of genes. A large proportion of the spruce genome consists of repetitive DNA sequences, including long terminal repeat听. Despite recent advances in massively parallel DNA sequencing, the assembly of such a large and repetitive genome is a particularly challenging task, mainly from a computational perspective.
Within populations of听Picea abies听there is great genetic variability, which most likely reflect populations' isolation in glacial听听and post-glacial evolutionary history. Genetic diversity can in particular be detected when looking at how the populations respond to climatic conditions. E.g. variations in timing and length of the annual growth period as well as differences in frost-hardiness in spring and autumn. These annual growth patterns are important to recognize in order to choose the proper reforestation material of听Picea abies.
Chemistry
,听,听听and its glucoside (),听听(the isorhapontigenin glucoside),听听补苍诲听听are phenolic compounds found in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal roots of Norway spruces.听听补苍诲听听are also found in听P.听abies.
Research
听from听Picea abies听have shown inhibitory activity on porcine听听.
