This beautiful plant (Norway spruce) is used in landscaping and in decorative gardening. Widely used in industry and its wood. Unripe cones are the raw material for the manufacture of medicines. And most importantly - in many states there is a tradition according to which a Christmas tree is decorated on New Year and Christmas.
The article presents some information about common spruce: description, places of growth, etc.
general information
In addition to all of the above, ordinary spruce is quite widely used to create stands along roads in order to protect it from snow deposits.
Many varieties have been developed that differ in the size and shape of the crown, as well as the color of the needles. This plant is the most common conifer in Europe. It should be noted that spruce is the official flower emblem of Medelpad, a Swedish province.
Common Spruce (description is given below) is a typical species belonging to the genus of the pine family conifers.
Spread
The plant, widespread in the northeast of the European territory, forms continuous massifs (spruce forests). Spruce is found to the west only in mountainous areas - in the Alps, Carpathians and the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula. Within Russia, the northern border of the range to a greater extent coincides with the forest border, and the southern part reaches the chernozem zone. In the eastern direction, starting from the Volga, ordinary spruce is gradually replaced by Siberian spruce.
In the north of Europe (from Finland and beyond) and in the east, hybrid forms of Siberian and ordinary spruce grow. Naturally localized spruce tree in the British Isles, in the Pyrenees and in North America.
This plant is a forest-forming species. In the taiga zone, it often forms extensive spruce forests. In the middle Russian strip, it adjoins deciduous trees and Scots pine, often forming mixed forests.
Like other species, ordinary spruce is characterized by good shade tolerance. It grows on soils of very different composition - from sandy soils to heavy loams. With all this, the plant is quite demanding on soil fertility. It is preferable for it to be moistened with running water. Does not grow in wetlands with stagnant moisture.
Although the spruce tree has excellent drought tolerance and frost resistance, it can suffer from frost coming in the spring.
Description
Norway spruce is an evergreen woody plant that grows to 30 meters or more in height. A cone-shaped crown is formed by open or drooping branches (located whorled). Peelable bark is gray.
The needles of this species are tetrahedral, arranged in a spiral. Located on leaf pads one at a time. Their length is 1-2.5 cm. Each needle has a lifespan of more than 6 years. Due to the fact that the plant is characterized by a superficial location of the root system, it is often exposed to windfalls.
Megastrobils (female cones of ordinary spruce) appear on the tips of branches that are 2 years old. They grow first vertically, and then turn and become drooping (top down). Ripening occurs in the fall (in Russia - in October). Mature cones acquire an oblong shape and grow to a length of 15 cm with a width of 4 cm. Egg-shaped seeds (length - up to 4 mm) have a reddish-brown wing. Seeds remain in cones until the middle of winter, and their rash occurs from January to May.
At the age of 20 to 60 years, the plant begins to seed, depending on the density of trees in the forest. Seeding does not occur annually - once every 4 or 5 years.
Age determination
Spruce in the forest is a familiar picture. However, few people know what age this evergreen tree can reach. The oldest known tree today has grown for 468 years. In fact, it is very rare to find specimens that grow over 300 years. Moreover, in the coniferous-deciduous forest area, the age decreases to 120-150 (rarely 180) years, and this applies only to individual trunks. It is known that a tree has the property of giving new clone shoots from the roots of extinct trunks. The oldest known spruce today (including clones) has reached the age of 9550 years.
Since the “floors” of branches are formed once a year, it is quite simple to determine the age of a young plant: calculate the number of branches and add 3-4 years (the period of formation of the very first “floor”). The average age of common spruce is from about 250 to 300 years.
In medicine
Cones of ordinary spruce are used as a medicinal raw material (description of fruits is given above). They should be collected before seed ripening begins in the summer. You need to dry under the shelters on the shelves. The cones include tannins, resins and essential oil. Infusions and decoctions of cones are used in the treatment of bronchial asthma and respiratory diseases.
Infusion from the kidneys has an antimicrobial, antispasmodic and desensitizing effect. The needles contain ascorbic acid (300-400 mg in fir trees growing in the mountains and in the north). It is used for the preparation of vitamin concentrates and anti-zingotic infusions. Needle baths in folk medicine are recommended for people with rheumatism.
