Picea asperata Seeds | Dragon Spruce
LATIN NAME: Picea asperata
COMMON NAME: Dragon Spruce, Chinese Spruce
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as Dragon Spruce, Picea asperata is a handsome, tall, evergreen conifer in the pine family, native to high forests of western China. It is a coniferous tree in pine family, native to high forests of western China, and it is prized for its fine, strong wood and its stately form, and it is known as dragon spruce. Established plants reach around Thirty metres. Not many plants ask so little and repay so much.
Science & Biotechnology
Research touching on Picea asperata ranges from the botany of the pine family to practical horticulture, including seed handling, propagation and the selection of superior forms. Dragon spruce has a real and distinguished place in the research. In the laboratory and trial ground alike, it serves as workable material for propagation research and line selection.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Dragon Spruce has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Ecologically, dragon spruce is a generous tree of the garden. Its long, cylindrical, pendent cones feed seed-eating birds, and its fine, dense, bluish-green foliage gives a fine cover and a shelter to birds through the year. A plant that has settled in will get along with only routine care.
Spruces gave the world spruce beer, a vitamin-C antiscorbutic of explorers, and their resinous bud syrups remain a folk favorite for coughs; the timber sings in violins.
Growing from Seed
Starting Dragon Spruce from seed is simple and satisfying. Sow evenly over the surface and cover lightly into a loose, well-drained seed compost, water in gently, and keep the sowing in bright light with steady moisture. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
Once established, Dragon Spruce, Chinese Spruce largely looks after itself. Give the seed freshness and steady moisture, and nature handles the rest.
Related Reading
More species in the same orbit as Dragon Spruce: