Picea maximowiczii

Picea maximowiczii

The Japanese brush spruce (Picea maximowiczii Regel ex Mast., 1879) is an arboreal species belonging to the Pinaceae family.

Systematic –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Pinophyta Division,
Class Pinopsida,
Pinales Order,
Pinaceae family,
Genus Picea,
Species P. maximowiczii.
Within this species the variety is recognised:
– Picea maximowiczii var. senanensis Hayashi – which is endemic to Saitama Prefecture.

Etymology –
The term Picea comes from picea, the Latin name of the wild pine in Virgil and Pliny.
The specific name maximowiczii was given in honor of the Russian botanist and explorer Karl Maksimovič (1827 – 1891) who, during his expeditions to Japan, collected numerous plants and seeds, sending them to Europe.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Picea maximowiczii is a conifer endemic to Fuji and the Yatsugatake Mountains, on the island of Honshū, Japan.
Its natural habitat is that of small scattered formations, usually in association with Juniperus difficile, Pinus densiflora, and deciduous species. The senanensis variety also with Picea alcoquiana and Picea koyamae.
In these areas it grows from 1100 to 2000 m above sea level, on soils of volcanic origin, usually podzolic, with a humid climate, with annual rainfall between 1000 and 2000 mm, characterized by cool summers and cold winters.

Description –
Picea maximowiczii is a tree that reaches 20-25 meters in height and is sometimes bushy in shape.
The trunk is straight or bifurcated monopodial, which can reach 50–60 cm in diameter. The bark is wrinkled, grooved, brown or brown-grey in color.
The branches of the first order are long and slender, developed horizontally or ascending. The branches of the second order are short, numerous and drooping in older specimens. The foliage is dense, largely conical. The shoots are slender, flexible, yellowish-brown or orange-brown, grooved and wrinkled, glabrous or pubertal; the pulvini are numerous, small and darker.
The leaves are leathery, linear, quadrangular, 10-20 mm long, about 1 mm in diameter, acute apex, intense green in colour, with a stomatal groove on each surface; resin canals two, marginal.
The flowers are yellowish, axillary male strobili, often numerous, 1-1.5 cm long, erect when immature and hanging when ripe; these appear from May to June.
The female cones are located on a short, oblique peduncle and are oval-cylindrical or ovoid-oblong, initially erect, then hanging when ripe, 4-6.5 cm long and 2.5-3.5 cm wide, initially green, then brown-red, with obtuse apex. The macrosporophylls are obovate-cuneate, 1.3-1.8 cm long, with a striated or longitudinally furrowed surface, glabrous and often resinous. The bracts are rudimentary, ligulate, obtuse, 2–3 mm long, totally included.
The seeds are dark brown or brown-grey in color, they are ovoid-oblong and 3-4.5 mm long, with an ovate-oblong winged part, 7–10 mm long, yellowish-brown or orange-brown.

Cultivation –
Picea maximowiczii is an endemic and rare conifer from the island of Honshū, Japan.
Both varieties are listed as vulnerable: confined to small, scattered populations in degraded montane woodlands… Both the habitat and the tree have been overexploited. Much of the habitat remains degraded and regeneration is poor.
This conifer grows in areas from 1100 to 2000 m above sea level, on soils of volcanic origin, usually podzolic; in these areas the climate is humid and annual rainfall is between 1000 and 2000 mm; the summers are cool and the winters cold.
Reproduction occurs via seed.

Customs and Traditions –
Picea maximowiczii is a conifer that was first discovered in the West in Japanese temple gardens, where it is a widely cultivated ornamental plant. The first collection in the wild was made by Sugawa Tschonoski, who found the tree on Fuji-san. He was a plant collector for Carl Maximowicz, curator of the herbarium of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden, who had been to Japan to explore the local flora in 1862. Tschonoski sent seeds and herbarium material to Maximowicz in 1865; when Regel published the species later that year, he named it Maximowicz. It was not found again in the wild until its rediscovery in October 1911 by Mr. Mitsua Koyama.
This species has been overexploited for its timber.
Although its wood is not of great value, it has nevertheless been overexploited in the past. In Japan this species is highly appreciated as an ornamental tree due to its dense foliage and slow growth, frequently found in gardens, especially those of Buddhist temples; There is also a form of bonsai on the market. In Europe and North America it is not very common, being found only in specialized botanical gardens and gardens, in particular with the senanensis variety
From an ecological point of view, this species, which has been subjected to over-exploitation in the past due to intense deforestation and replacement with other faster-growing and more economically exploitable forest species, is in danger of extinction in the wild.
The populations of the primary range, which is only 100 km² large, are scattered in small groups, with a lack of mature individuals, and regeneration is difficult (it is estimated that the population has halved). For these reasons it is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN Red List.

Preparation Method –
Picea maximowiczii is a plant once used for wood and deforested for the introduction of other species which is now in danger of extinction in its natural state in its range.
Beyond ornamental uses, no other uses are known.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Photo source:
– https://www.botanischetuinen.nl/en/plant_en/1009/japanese-bush-spruce

Attention: Pharmaceutical applications and food uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; we therefore decline any responsibility for their use for healing, aesthetic or food purposes.