Spruces

Picea spp.

• Height: up to 40 m
• Trunk: straight trunk, initially thin, smooth grey-brown bark, becoming fissured and scaly with age, often greenish on the weather side
• Crown: conical, later often loose crown, branches mostly horizontal to slightly pendulous
• Leaves: spirally arranged, pointed needles, 4-sided with stomata on all sides or flat with stomata facing downward, fused to the branch at the base
• Flowers: small, reddish to yellow male flowers; erect female inflorescences
• Fruits/Seeds: elongated, cylindrical cones, initially erect, later pendulous, brown when ripe, with winged seeds, disintegrating

^{Photos: BUND Naturschutz in Bayern (1,2,3)}