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• Picea abies

Picea abies — Norway spruce

Facts

Norway spruce is easy to tell from other spruces by its large cones (5 inches or 12 cm long) and its horizontal branches laden with long, pendulous branchlets. Many cultivars of this attractive spruce are available, and it is easily transplanted even as a mature tree. But this large tree needs plenty of elbow room to develop.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forests, shrublands or thickets

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Winter bud shape

  • the winter buds are conical (cone-shaped)
  • the winter buds are ovoid (egg-shaped)

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed cone base

  NA

  Seed cone bracts

  the bracts are covered by the seed cone scales

  Seed cone form

  the seed cone is longer than wide, with woody scales attached at the base

  Seed cone scales

  NA

  Seed cone shape

  • the seed cone is cylindrical (cylinder-shaped)
  • the seed cone is ovoid (egg-shaped)

  Seed cone symmetry

  the seed cone is symmetrical

  Seed cone umbo position

  there is no raised portion on the seed cone scale

  Seed cone umbo spine

  NA

  Seed wings

  the seeds have wing-like projections

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant is a tree

• Leaves

  Leaf arrangement

  there is one needle-like leaf per node

  Leaf base

  the base of the needle-like leaf is narrow (not expanded) at the attachment point

  Leaf clustering

  the needle-like leaves are single, with one per node

  Leaf cross-section

  the needle-like leaves are rounded, or flattened on one side (can be rolled between the fingers)

  Leaf duration

  the needle-like leaves remain green all winter

  Leaf form

  the leaves are needle-like

  Leaf glands

  there are no glands on the underside of the needle-like leaves

  Leaf stalks

  the needle-like leaves do not have a leaf stalk

  Leaf types

  there is only one type of needle-like leaf on the twig

  Leaves overlapping

  the needle-like leaves are separate and do not hide the twig surface

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • shrublands or thickets

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Bark resin blisters

  • the bark has small resin blisters on it
  • there are no resin blisters on the bark

  Leaves on shoots

  the needle-like leaves do not grow in tight clusters on a short, knob-like shoot

  Twig bloom

  there is no bloom on the twig

  Twig hair type

  • the twigs have few or no hairs on them
  • the twigs have hairs, but the hairs do not have glands

  Twig hairs

  • the twig does not have hairs
  • the twig is hairy

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae