Picea obovata

Scientific name: Picea obovata Ledebour  1833

Synonyms:Abies alpestris Stein, Abies obovata (Ledeb.) Loudon, Picea alpestris Bruegg., Picea wolossowiczii Sukaczev, Pinus obovata (Ledeb.) Turcz., Picea abies var. obovata (Ledeb.) Lindq., Picea abies subsp. obovata (Ledeb.) Hultén

Common names: Siberian spruce, Sibirgran (Norwegian), El’ sybirskaya (Russian)

Description

Tree to 50(-60) m tall, with trunk to 1.5(-2) m in diameter. Bark breaking up somewhat into gray plates at the base of old trees. Crowns quite variable, narrowly or broadly conical, with upswept or stiffly outstretched branches bearing horizontal or dangling side branches. New branchlets orange-brown, hairless to densely hairy. Buds 4-7 mm long, slightly resinous or not. Twigs densely fuzzy. Needles bright green, 1-2.5(-3) cm long, curved forward, square, with two to four lines of stomates on each side, not prickly. Pollen cones (8-)12-25 mm long, purplish red. Seed cones 5-8 cm long, green before maturity, ripening medium brown. Seed scale margins round or even notched. Seed body 3-5 mm long, the wing 10-15 mm longer.

Northern Scandinavia to Kamchatka.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

(Forests of this species extend across millions of square kilometres in eastern Russia and Siberia; it is assessed as Least Concern)

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.

Rootstock: Picea abies