Flora of North America species comparison

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Picea abies

Norway spruce, épinette de norvège
Habit Trees to 30m; trunk to 2m diam.; crown conic.
Bark

gray-brown, scaly.
Branches

short and stout, the upper ascending, the lower drooping;

twigs stout, reddish brown, usually glabrous.
Buds

reddish brown, 5–7mm, apex acute.
Leaves

1–2.5cm, 4-angled in cross section, rigid, light to dark green, bearing stomates on all surfaces, apex blunt-tipped.
Seed

cones (10–)12–16cm;

scales diamond-shaped, widest near middle, 18–30 × 15–20mm, thin and flexuous, margin at apex erose to toothed, apex extending 6–10mm beyond seed-wing impression.
2n

=24.

Picea abies
Habitat Woods and persisting after cultivation.
Distribution
from FNA
MN; probably elsewhere; Europe [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Norway spruce, native to Europe, has become locally naturalized, at least in north central United States (and adjacent Canada). The species is the most widely cultivated spruce in North America; many cultivars exist, including dwarf shrubs.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2, p. 370.
Parent taxa Pinaceae > Picea
Sibling taxa
P. breweriana, P. engelmannii, P. glauca, P. mariana, P. pungens, P. rubens, P. sitchensis
Synonyms Pinus abies
Name authority (Linnaeus) H. Karsten: Deut. Fl. 2/3: 324. (1881)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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