''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. It has

branchlet {{Short pages monitor Another spruce with smoothly rounded cone scales and hairy shoots occurs rarely in the Central Alps in eastern Switzerland. 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 ('' Picea obovata''), Schrenk's spruce ('' Picea schrenkiana'') from central

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and Morinda spruce (''

Picea smithiana ''Picea smithiana'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Pinaceae family It is referred to by the common names morinda spruce and West Himalayan spruce, and is a spruce native to the western Himalaya and adjacent mountains, from northeas ...

'') in the Himalaya. Treated as a distinct species, it takes the name Alpine spruce ('' Picea alpestris''). 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. It is used as an ornamental tree in parks and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s. It is also widely planted for use as a Christmas tree. Every Christmas, the Norwegian capital city, Oslo, provides the cities of London (the

Trafalgar Square Christmas tree The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is a Christmas tree given to the people of London by the city of Oslo each year since 194The tree is prominently displayed in Trafalgar Square from the beginning of December until 6 January. History A Trafa ...

), 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. In North America, Norway spruce is widely planted, specifically in the Northeastern, Pacific Coast, and Rocky Mountain states, as well as in southeastern Canada. It is naturalised in some parts of North America. There are naturalized populations occurring from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, and it is probable that they occur elsewhere. 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 Zone 6 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

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s have been selected as ornamentals (‘Barrya’, ‘Capitata’, ‘Decumbens’, ‘Dumosa’, ‘Clanbrassiliana’, ‘Gregoryana’, ‘Inversa’, ‘Microsperma’, ‘Nidiformis’, ‘Ohlendorffii’, ‘Repens’, ‘Tabuliformis’, ‘Maxwellii’, 'Virgata', 'Inversa', ‘Pendula’), 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 scientific name ''Picea excelsa'' (an

illegitimate name ''Nomen illegitimum'' (Latin for illegitimate name) is a technical term, used mainly in botany. It is usually abbreviated as ''nom. illeg.'' Although the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants uses Latin terms for other ki ...

). The following cultivars have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit: *'Acrocona' - tall and broad *'Clanbrassiliana' - tall by broad *'Inversa' - tall by broad *'Little Gem' - tall and broad *'Nidiformis' - tall by broad

Uses

The Norway spruce is used in

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

for ( softwood)

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

, and

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

production. File:Norway spruce (Picea abies) trunk cross section.png, ''Picea abies'' trunk cross section File:Picea abies wood texture.jpg, ''Picea abies'' trunk cross section close-up It is esteemed as a source of

tonewood Tonewood refers to specific wood varieties that possess tonal properties that make them good choices for use in woodwind or acoustic stringed instruments. Varieties of tonewood As a rough generalization it can be said that stiff-but-light softwood ...

by stringed-instrument makers. One form of the tree called (Hazel-spruce) grows in the European Alps and has been recognized by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

as intangible cultural heritage. This form was used by

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are c ...

for instruments. Norway spruce are commonly used in bonsai cultivation.

As food

The tree is the source of spruce beer, which was once used to prevent and even cure scurvy. 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 Mont d'Or cheese it is wrapped in a "''sangle''" made from the

cambium A cambium (plural cambia or cambiums), in plants, is a tissue layer that provides partially undifferentiated cells for plant growth. It is found in the area between xylem and phloem. A cambium can also be defined as a cellular plant tissue from w ...

of a Norway spruce (French: ') for about two weeks at least, which gives the cheese a unique flavour.

Longevity

A press release from Umeå University says that a Norway spruce clone named

Old Tjikko Old Tjikko is a 9,550 year-old Norway spruce, located on Fulufjället Mountain of Dalarna province in Sweden. Old Tjikko originally gained fame as the "world's oldest tree." Old Tjikko is, however, a clonal tree that has regenerated new trun ...

, carbon dated as 9,550 years old, is the "oldest living tree". 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, Pando, a stand of 47,000

quaking aspen ''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, one of several species referred to by the common name aspen. It is commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, mountain or golden aspen, tr ...

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 vegetative cloning) is a Great Basin

bristlecone pine The term bristlecone pine covers three species of pine tree (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus'', subsection ''Balfourianae''). All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils. One of the three species, ''Pinus ...

over 5,000 years old (germination in 3051 BC).

Genetics

The genome of ''Picea abies'' was sequenced in 2013, the first gymnosperm genome to be completely sequenced. 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

transposable elements A transposable element (TE, transposon, or jumping gene) is a nucleic acid sequence in DNA that can change its position within a genome, sometimes creating or reversing mutations and altering the cell's genetic identity and genome size. Trans ...

. 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 ''Picea abies'' there is great genetic variability, which most likely reflect populations' isolation in glacial refugia 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 ''Picea abies''.

Chemistry

p-Hydroxybenzoic acid glucoside, picein,

piceatannol Piceatannol is the organic compound with the formula . Classified as a stilbenoid and a phenol, it is a white solid, although samples often are yellow owing to impurities. Natural occurrences Piceatannol and its glucoside, astringin, are found i ...

and its glucoside (

astringin Astringin is a stilbenoid, the 3-β-D-glucoside of piceatannol. It can be found in the bark of ''Picea sitchensis'' or ''Picea abies'' (Norway spruce). It is also present in ''Vitis vinifera'' cells cultures and in wine. See also *Phenolic c ...

), isorhapontin (the isorhapontigenin glucoside),

catechin Catechin is a flavan-3-ol, a type of secondary metabolite providing antioxidant roles in plants. It belongs to the subgroup of polyphenols called flavonoids. The name of the catechin chemical family derives from ''catechu'', which is the tanni ...

and

ferulic acid Ferulic acid is a hydroxycinnamic acid, an organic compound with the formula (CH3O)HOC6H3CH=CHCO2H. The name is derived from the genus ''Ferula'', referring to the giant fennel ('' Ferula communis''). Classified as a phenolic phytochemical, ferul ...

are phenolic compounds found in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal roots of Norway spruces. Piceol and

are also found in ''P. abies''.

Research

Extracts from ''Picea abies'' have shown inhibitory activity on porcine pancreatic lipase

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called " test-tube experiments", these studies in biology ...

Synonyms

''Picea abies'' (L.) H. Karst is the accepted name of this species. More than 150 synonyms of ''Picea abies'' have been published. Homotypic synonyms of ''Picea abies'' are: *''Pinus abies'' L. *''Abies picea'' Mill. *''Pinus pyramidalis'' Salisb. *''Pinus abies'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' Voss *''Abies abies'' (L.) Druce Some heterotypic synonyms of ''Picea abies'' are: *''Abies alpestris'' Brügger *''Abies carpatica'' (Loudon) Ravenscr. *''Abies cinerea'' Borkh. *''Abies clambrasiliana'' Lavallée *''Abies clanbrassiliana'' P. Lawson *''Abies coerulescens'' K. Koch *''Abies conica'' Lavallée *''Abies elegans'' Sm. ''ex'' J.Knight *''Abies eremita'' K.Koch *''Abies erythrocarpa'' (Purk.) Nyman *''Abies excelsa'' (Lam.) Poir. *''Abies extrema'' Th.Fr. *''Abies finedonensis'' Gordon *''Abies gigantea'' Sm. ''ex'' Carrière *''Abies gregoryana'' H. Low. ''ex'' Gordon *''Abies inverta'' R. Sm. ''ex'' Gordon *''Abies lemoniana'' Booth ''ex'' Gordon *''Abies medioxima'' C.Lawson *''Abies minuta'' Poir. *''Abies montana'' Nyman *''Abies parvula'' Knight *''Abies subarctica'' (Schur) Nyman *''Abies viminalis'' Wahlenb. *''Picea alpestris'' (Brügger) Stein *''Picea cranstonii'' Beissn. *''Picea elegantissima'' Beissn. *''Picea excelsa'' (Lam.) Link *''Picea finedonensis'' Beissn. *''Picea gregoryana'' Beissn. *''Picea integrisquamis'' (Carrière) Chiov. *''Picea maxwellii'' Beissn. *''Picea montana'' Schur *''Picea remontii'' Beissn. *''Picea rubra'' A. Dietr. *''Picea subarctica'' Schur *''Picea velebitica'' Simonk. ''ex'' Kümmerle *''Picea viminalis'' (Alstr.) Beissn. *''Picea vulgaris'' Link *''Pinus excelsa'' Lam. *''Pinus sativa'' Lam. *''Pinus viminalis'' Alstr.

References

External links

Spruce Genome Project
at Congenie.org
''Picea abies''
- distribution map, genetic conservation units and related resources.

European Forest Genetic Resources Programme European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) is an international network that supports the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe. The programme’s tasks include to coordinate and promote '' in situ'' an ...

(EUFORGEN) {{Authority control abies Flora of Belarus Flora of Bulgaria Flora of Croatia Flora of the Czech Republic Flora of Estonia Flora of Germany Flora of Italy Flora of Latvia Flora of Lithuania Flora of Poland Flora of Moldova Flora of Romania Flora of Serbia Flora of Slovakia Flora of Slovenia Flora of Ukraine Flora of the Alps Flora of Northern Europe Least concern plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Trees of continental subarctic climate Trees of humid continental climate Trees of subpolar oceanic climate Trees of Europe Trees of Russia