Picea obovata

Picea obovata

The Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb., 1833) is an arboreal species belonging to the Pinaceae family.

Systematics –
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. obovata.
The terms are synonymous:
– Abies alpestris Stein;
– Abies excelsa var. altaica (Tepl.) Willk.;
– Abies excelsa var. obovata (Ledeb.) K.Koch;
– Abies obovata (Ledeb.) Loudon;
– Picea abies subsp. alpestris (Stein) Parfenov, 1971;
– Picea abies subsp. obovata (Ledeb.) Domin;
– Picea abies subsp. obovata (Ledeb.) Hultén;
– Picea abies subsp. obovata (Ledeb.) Lindm.;
– Picea abies subsp. obovata (Ledebour) A.E.Murray, 1982;
– Picea abies var. obovata (Ledeb.) Lindq.;
– Picea alpestris Bruegg.;
– Picea excelsa subsp. obovata (Ledeb.) Blytt;
– Picea excelsa var. alpestris (Stein) Rouy, 1913;
– Picea excelsa var. obovata (Ledeb.) Ahlfv.;
– Picea excelsa var. obovata (Ledeb.) Blytt;
– Picea obovata subsp. krylovii (Luchnik) Silba;
– Picea obovata subsp. petschorica Govor.;
– Picea obovata subsp. tschiketamanica (Luchnik) Silba;
– Picea obovata var. argentea Luchnik;
– Picea obovata var. brevifolia Luchnik;
– Picea obovata var. caerulea Malyschev;
– Picea obovata var. coerulea Malyschev;
– Picea obovata var. densifolia Luchnik;
– Picea obovata var. krylovii Luchnik;
– Picea obovata var. lucifera Luchnik;
– Picea obovata var. lutescens Luchnik;
– Picea obovata var. pendula Luchnik;
– Picea obovata var. seminskiensis Luchnik;
– Picea obovata var. tschiketamanica Luchnik;
– Picea petchorica Govor.;
– Picea vulgaris var. altaica Tepl.;
– Picea wolossowiczii Sukaczev;
– Pinus abies Pall.;
– Pinus abies f. obovata (Ledeb.) Voss;
– Pinus abies var. obovata (Ledeb.) Andersson;
– Pinus abies var. obovata (Ledeb.) Andersson ex A.Murray bis;
– Pinus obovata (Ledeb.) Turcz.;
– Pinus obovata var. schrenkiana Parl..

Etymology –
The term Picea comes from picea, the Latin name of the wild pine in Virgil and Pliny; according to an etymological interpretation, it should derive from Pix picis = pitch, in reference to the abundant production of resin.
The specific epithet obovata means with a shape similar to an egg, but with the wider part in a distal position, from ob-, a preposition with the sense of going towards, and from ovatus ovato, in reference to the inverted egg shape of the macrosporophylls of cones.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Picea obovata is a conifer native to Mongolia and Russia (Altai, Amur, Krasnoyarsk, Yakutia, Chita, Buryatia, Tuva, Magadan, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk and Siberia).
This plant plays an important role in the boreal taiga of northern Russia and Siberia, which becomes dominant in areas characterized by permafrost, even beyond the Arctic Circle.
In its habitat, in the southern part of its range, it can be found in pure forests or in association with Abies sibirica up to altitudes of 2000 m in the Altai mountains. In marshy areas it takes on narrower and almost stunted shapes, growing in association with Larix gmelinii, while in drier ones in association with Pinus sylvestris; in areas with more drained and deeper soils, deciduous trees of the Betula and Populus genera also appear. This conifer is extremely tolerant of the harsh Siberian conditions, with temperatures that can reach -60 °C; in these conditions, with very short dry summers, the growth of P. obovata is very slow with specimens measuring 10 cm in diameter which can even be a century old.

Description –
Picea obovata is a conifer that grows up to 40 m in height with a conical crown.
The trunk is monopodial, straight, and can reach 1 m in diameter; the bark is wrinkled, plated, gray in color.
The branches of the first order are slender, developed horizontally or hanging; those of the second order are highly variable, horizontal. The shoots are glabrous or slightly pubescent, initially orange or red-brown, then grey, grooved; the pulvini are 1 mm long, oblique.
The leaves are needle-shaped, dark green in colour, 0.8-2.5 cm long, linear, straight or curved, with acute tips and a quadrangular section; they have stomata on both pages, arranged in 2-4 lines. The vegetative buds are ovoid-conical, 4-5 mm long, sometimes slightly resinous; they have triangular, obtuse, light brown or reddish brown perulae, persistent for years.
Male strobili are yellow; they form in the axillary position and are 1-1.5 cm long.
The female cones are terminal, cylindrical, initially erect, then drooping when mature, 4-8 cm long and 2.5-4 cm wide, initially green or red, then brown or dark brown. The macrosporophylls are obovate-oblong, 1.5-2.5 cm long, with a smooth and glabrous surface, a cuneate base and an entire obtuse or rounded upper margin. The bracts are rudimentary, ligulate, 2-3 mm long, entirely included.
The seeds have a dark brown or blackish-brown color; they are ovoid-oblong and 2-4 mm long, with ovate-oblong winged part 10-15 mm long, light brown in color.

Cultivation –
Picea obovata is a conifer widespread in the taiga, where it tends to dominate the shallow soils above the permafrost and is found much further north, up to within the Arctic Circle. In the southern parts of its range it forms almost pure forests, or mixes with Abies sibirica in the Altai Mountains up to 2000 m altitude.
In marshy areas, however, it becomes a stunted, strictly columnar tree and often grows with Larix gmelinii (a situation very reminiscent of that shared by Picea mariana and Larix laricina in North America).
For its cultivation, take into account the climatic conditions where it grows, as it is a plant that tolerates rigid temperatures up to -60 °C while it is not very suitable for climates with mild temperatures and little rainy winters.
Like other conifers, it preferably reproduces by seed.

Customs and Traditions –
Picea obovata was placed by Ran et al. (2006) and Lockwood et al. (2013) very close to P. abies in a clade composed mainly of quadrangular-needled spruces of East Asia. The close relationship with P. abies has long been recognized, so much so that some authorities have reduced P. obovata to the status of a subspecies. An intermediate form, P. × fennica, represents an introgressive hybrid between the two species (Farjon 1990). This introgression was detailed by Krutovskii and Bergmann (1995), who analyzed isoenzyme loci for populations sampled from the entire range of the two species. They found so little variation between the two taxa, and such a large zone of introgressive hybridization (covering both sides of the Ural Mountains) that they justified describing them as “two geographic races of one spruce species”. However, molecular phylogenies indicate that P. obovata is as distinct from P. abies as other taxa in the clade such as P. meyeri or P. koyamae. A molecular clock proposed by Lockwood et al. (2013) suggests an Early Pleistocene age for the divergence of these species.
This spruce has great economic importance in Russia for the exploitation of its wood, mostly used in the paper industry; other uses are the classic ones of other spruces, including the production of musical instruments (violins).
It is rarely cultivated outside Russia where it is reproduced and bred only in some areas of Russia and Eastern Europe.
As regards its conservation status, being one of the most common conifers, and with a very vast range, it is classified as a least concern species in the IUCN Red List.

Preparation Method –
Picea obovata is a very widespread plant in its range where it is used mainly in the industrial field for its wood or as fuel.

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://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/256381067/original.jpeg
– https://www.conifers.org/pi/pi/o/obovata03.jpg

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.