Picea abies

Norway spruce
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Picea
Species:
P. abies
Binomial name
Picea abies
The Norway spruce range.[1]
Distribution map. Green: native range. Orange: introduced areas. Crosses and triangles denote isolated populations.

Picea abies, the Norway spruce[2] or European spruce,[3] is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.[4]

It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very closely related to the Siberian spruce (Picea obovata), which replaces it east of the Ural Mountains, 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 Christmas tree in several countries around the world. It was the first gymnosperm to have its genome sequenced. The Latin specific epithet abies means "like Abies, Fir tree".[5]

  1. ^ a b Farjon, A. (2017). "Picea abies". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T42318A71233492. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T42318A71233492.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference FEIS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Picea abies (Norway spruce) description". Conifers.org. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  5. ^ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 978-1845337315.