species 91,817 observations

Norway Spruce

Picea abies

Field notes

Picea abies, the Norway spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the longest cones of any spruce, 9–20 cm long. It is usually considered most closely related to the Siberian spruce (Picea obovata), which replaces it east of the Ural Mountains, and with which it hybridises freely, but its phylogeny has been disputed.

Major pests that affect the species include the European spruce bark beetle, the large pine weevil, and the black arches moth. Fungal diseases that can kill the tree include Armillaria root rot and red rot caused by Heterobasidion annosum. The species has a wide distribution, is widely planted for its wood, and is used as a 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 a fir tree".