Picea spinulosa

Picea spinulosa, the Sikkim spruce, is a spruce native to the eastern Himalaya, in India (Sikkim), Nepal and Bhutan. It grows at altitudes of 2,400-3,700 m in mixed coniferous forests.

Sikkim spruce
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Picea
Species:
P. spinulosa
Binomial name
Picea spinulosa

It is a large evergreen tree growing to 40–55 m tall (exceptionally to 65 m), and with a trunk diameter of up to 1-2.5 m. It has a conical crown with level branches and usually pendulous branchlets.

The shoots are whitish to pale buff, and glabrous (hairless). The leaves are needle-like, 1.7-3.2 cm long, slender, rhombic to slightly flattened in cross-section, glossy green on the upper side, with two conspicuous blue-white stomatal bands on the lower side. The cones are cylindric-conic, 6–12 cm long and 2 cm broad, green or tinged reddish when young, maturing glossy orange-brown to red-brown and opening to 3 cm broad, 5–7 months after pollination; the scales are moderately stiff, with a bluntly pointed apex.

Sikkim spruce is occasionally grown as an ornamental tree in large gardens in western and central Europe for its attractive pendulous branchlets.

References

  1. Zhang, D.; Katsuki, T. & Rushforth, K. (2013). "Picea spinulosa". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2013: e.T42339A2973830. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42339A2973830.en. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
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