spruce

(Picea), a genus of coniferous evergreen trees of the pine family. Spruce is a prevalent forest species. The trunk is straight, and the crown thick and conical. The cones are four-sided, in some cases flattened and sharp, and can be preserved for five to seven years (and in some varieties, nine to 12). The anther microstrobiles are separate and either red or yellow. The pollen has two air sacs. The female cones are woody, drooping, and firmly attached. The seeds have a spoon-shaped wing. The root system of the spruces is superficial. Spruce can thrive in shade and cold winter, but are damaged by late spring and early summer frosts and by soot, factory smoke, and dry air. Spruce trees live 250–300 years (some reach 500 years) and grow on fresh clayey, loamy, and sandy loam soils. Spruce is an ornamental tree.

There are approximately 40 species found in Europe, Asia, and North America; eight grow in the USSR. In the European part from the northern forest boundary to the northern edge of the chernozem soil belt, the Norway spruce (P. abies or P. excelsa) prevails. This species reaches 20–50 m in height and a diameter of up to 1 m. It bears fruit at 15 years in natural growth and at 25–30 years in plantations. The cones grow to a length of 10–15 cm with scales that are rippled at the end. The wood is white, light, and soft; it is used in construction, in paper production, and for making musical instruments. The wood yields tar, pitch, turpentine, rosin, wood vinegar, and tanning substances. Spruce trees are usually cultivated in parks and planted in forest zones and along railroads and roadways.

The Siberian spruce (P. obovata) grows in the northeast European part of the Soviet Union, the Urals, and Siberia. It has smaller cones with solid scales. The Finnish Siberian spruce ‘(P. fennica) grows in northern Karelia; the oriental spruce (P. orientalis) in the Caucasus; the Schrenk spruce (P. schrenkiana), with a bluish coloration to the needles, in the Dzungarian Alatau and Tien-Shan; and the Korean spruce (P. koraiensis) and the flat-needled Yeddo spruce (P. ajanensis) in the Far East.