Picea omorika, the Serbian spruce[Farjon, A. (1990). Pinaceae. Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera. Koeltz Scientific Books .][Rushforth, K. (1987). Conifers. Helm .][Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins .] the specific epithet omorika is simply the Serbian word for the tree (other spruces are smrča in Serbian).
Description
It is a medium-sized
evergreen tree growing to tall, exceptionally , with a trunk diameter of up to , and a conic crown; the crown is very narrow on high altitude trees, broader at lower altitudes.
[ The shoots are buff-brown, and densely pubescent (hairy). The leaf are needle-like, 10–20 mm long, flattened in cross-section, dark green above, and with two glaucous blue-white stomata below. The conifer cone are long, fusiform (spindle-shaped, broadest in the middle), dark purple (almost black) when young, maturing dark brown 5–7 months after pollination, with stiff scales.][
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The tallest specimen in the wild currently known is 30.2 m tall;
Ecology
Because of its limited range, it is not a major source of nutrition to wildlife, but does provide cover for birds and small mammals. Prior to the Pleistocene ice ages, it had a much larger range throughout most of Europe.[
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File:Picea omorika, Zaovine, Serbia 5.jpg|Foliage, showing the glossy green upper side of the needles
File:Picea omorika, Zaovine, Serbia 6.jpg|Foliage, showing the glaucous blue-green stomata on the underside of needles
File:Picea omorika young female cone - Keila.jpg|Immature female cone
File:Fichtenzapfen P4202419.jpg|Mature female cone
File:PiceaOmorika30yearsFull.jpg|Although some trees are very slender, this is not invariable; many are broader, such as this cultivated tree in France
File:Manabe-nouen201605-07.jpg|Cultivar 'Pendula'
Cultivation
Outside its native range, Serbian spruce is of major importance as an ornamental tree in large gardens, valued in northern Europe and North America for its very attractive crown form and ability to grow on a wide range of soils, including alkaline, clay, acid and sandy soil, although it prefers moist, drained loam. The crown shape is heritable, with high altitude seed sources retaining the narrow crown in cultivation, and lower altitude sources their broader crown.[
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It is also grown to a small extent in forestry for , timber and paper production, particularly in northern Europe, though its slow growth makes it less important than Sitka spruce or Norway spruce. In cultivation, it has produced hybrids with the closely related black spruce (named as P. × mariorika),[
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AGM cultivars
The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
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Picea omorika 'Nana'
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Picea omorika 'Pendula'
External links
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Picea omorika – information, genetic conservation units, and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)
