Serbian Spruce

The Serbian Spruce, distinguished by its tapering form and needle-like leaves, is a species of medium-sized coniferous tree found in the mountainous regions along the Drina River valley of eastern Bosnia and western Serbia at an elevation of 2,625-5,249 ft. It has dark foliage with blue-green undersides, and its buff-brown shoots are quite hairy.

This tree was first spotted close to the Serbian village of Zaovine in 1875 by a botanist Josif Pančić, who is also credited with naming the Serbian Spruce.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom	Plantae
Division	Pinophyta
Class	Pinopsida
Order	Pinales
Family	Pinaceae
Genus	Picea
Scientific Name	Picea omorika

Quick Information

Size	Commonly grows to a height of 66ft (20m), but occasionally reaches up to 131ft (40m); straight tree trunk with a diameter of about 3ft (1m); adult trees have a spread of about 2.5-4m
Leaves	Flat and pointy leaves, 10-20mm long; bluish-green above but bluish-white below
Fruits (Cones)	Spindle-shaped, 4-7cm long; young cones are dark purple in color while the maturing ones have stiff scales and dark brown coloration
Tree Type	Evergreen
Shape at Maturity	Narrow-pyramidal at the crown
Distribution/Range	On the Viogor, Zvijezda, Tara, Jadovnik, and Radomišlja mountains around the Drina River in Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Hardiness Zones	4-7
Lifespan	Over 60 years
Growth Rate	Slow to medium; annual height increase is 12-24 in
Growing Conditions	Winter Conditions: More tolerant to frost than the Sitka and Norway spruce, some resistance to wet snow Summer Conditions: Hot and slightly dry Rain: Over 650 mm annual precipitation Sunlight: Tolerates both direct sunlight and partial shade; needs at least 4 hours of unfiltered sunlight daily Soil Requirements: Sandy, acidic, clay, alkaline, moist, well-drained, loamy
Diseases and Pests	Rust diseases and needle cast may affect the spruce causing their needles to turn brown or mottled yellow; sawfly larvae, spider mites, spruce needle miner, and spruce budworm larvae may infest the branches, needles, and young buds; the white pine weevil can disfigure a spruce tree if left uncontrolled
Flowering Time	Non-flowering
Wildlife Value	Not an important wildlife food source due to its limited range; small animals including deer and rabbits, as also birds, use it as a protective shelter
Cultivars	Pendula (weeping form) and Nana (dwarf form) are the most widely used varieties in gardening and landscaping
Uses	As ornamental trees for decorative purposes; planted in groups for landscape design projects and specimen display; for timber and production of paper; ideal as Christmas tree; also crossed with the Sitka and Black spruce to produce hybrid species
IUCN Conservation Status	Endangered

Interesting Facts

• The genus name Picea has been derived from pix, a Latin word meaning “pitch”, while the scientific name omorika is the Serbian word for “Serbian spruce”. The genus name refers to the resin found in the tree bark.
• These trees were distributed over a much larger area in Europe before the ice ages of Pleistocene epoch.
• The Serbian Spruce shows great tolerance to air pollution.

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picea_omorika
2. https://extension.psu.edu/serbian-spruce-picea-omorika
3. http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=h220
4. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/30313/84039544