Picea orientalis

Picea orientalis
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Genus:	Picea
Species:	P. orientalis
Binomial name
	Picea orientalis; (L.) Link

Picea orientalis, commonly known as the Oriental spruce^[2] or Caucasian spruce, is a species of spruce native to the Caucasus and adjacent northeast Turkey.

Description

It is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to 30–45 m tall or 98–145 feet (exceptionally to 57 m), and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m (exceptionally up to 4 m). The Caucasian Spruce can also be found in Northern Iran, though its numbers have decreased due to deforestation.^{[citation needed]}

The shoots are buff-brown and moderately pubescent (hairy). The leaves are needle-like, the shortest of any spruce, 6–8 mm long, rhombic in cross-section, dark green with inconspicuous stomatal lines. The cones are slender cylindric-conic, 5–9 cm long and 1.5 cm broad, red to purple when young, maturing dark brown 5–7 months after pollination, and have stiff, smoothly rounded scales.

Cultivation

It is a popular ornamental tree in large gardens, valued in northern Europe and the USA for its attractive foliage and ability to grow on a wide range of soils. It is also grown to a small extent in forestry for Christmas trees, timber and paper production, though its slower growth compared to Norway spruce reduces its importance outside of its native range. P. orientalis^[3] and the cultivars 'Aurea' ^[4] and ‘Skylands’^[5] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[6] A frequently seen ornamental cultivar is Picea orientalis 'Aureospicata', which has gold-coloured young foliage in the spring.