Spruce seed
LATIN NAME: Picea jezoensis
COMMON NAME: Jezo Spruce
The Jezo spruce is the tall, dark, evergreen conifer of the northern forests. The upright, conical, evergreen tree carries the short, stiff, dark-green needles with the fine, white lines on the undersides, and the small, cylindrical cones hang from the upper branches. The tree is one of the fine, hardy conifers of the northern regions, known for the very dark green of the foliage, and it is a favourite for the specimen tree, the windbreak and the bonsai. It is a tree of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The Jezo spruce has carved a quiet but solid place in the plant science, and the tree has been studied for the short, stiff, dark-green needles and the fine, white lines beneath. The way the tree holds its own in the cold, windy north has been studied at length, and it keeps showing up in the work on the hardy conifers, the windbreaks and the timber trees of the northern forests. The small, cylindrical cones and the conical habit have also made it a fine garden tree, and the Jezo spruce is a regular subject of the studies of the spruces and the bonsai trees of the East.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The Jezo spruce does a lot of work in the garden and the wider world. The tall, dark, conical tree is a fine, bold presence in the large garden, the park and the windbreak, and the short, dark-green needles make it a favourite of the bonsai growers. The fine, white lines beneath the needles give the dark foliage its quiet, silvery sheen, and the straight, strong timber has its own record of use in the building of the north. It has been written about in the horticultural and the forestry papers for the dark, neat form and the hardy ways, and it is a fine, long-lived tree of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.
The Jezo spruce is one of the fine, hardy conifers of the north, and the short, stiff, dark-green needles with the fine, white lines beneath give the tree its quiet, silvery sheen. The neat, conical habit and the small, cylindrical cones have made it a favourite of the bonsai growers as well as a fine specimen of the large garden.
To grow the Jezo spruce from seed, keep the seeds cold and moist for a few weeks, then sow them at a shallow depth in pots of moist, free-draining soil, covering them thinly, keep them in a bright, sheltered spot and water gently. The seedlings appear within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun, the shelter and the well-drained ground, the dark, conical tree will rise through the years.
Uses: Specimen, Christmas Tree, Bonsai.
Jezo Spruce, Picea jezoensis, Tree Seeds
Evergreen, Bonsai, Specimen Tree, Christmas Tree, Fast Growth, Timber, Wind Tolerant
Jezo Spruce is an evergreen conifer that is native to northern Asia. It typically grows to 150 feet tall in its native habitat. Very popular in Japan, this evergreen is known for
its very dark green needles with a white underside. Its short needles are a plus for growing bonsai. Branchlets are pale yellowish-brown, deeply grooved and glabrous. Flattened,
overlapping leaves, to 3/4 inches long, are glossy dark green above and silvery white beneath. Each leaf appears narrow at the base. Flowers appear as small cones, male and female
on the same tree. Cones are to 2 to 3 1/2 inches long. The bark is grayish brown, deeply fissured and exfoliates in irregular scales.
Other Names: Yezo spruce, Yeddo Spruce, Jezzo Spruce, Jezo Spruce, Hondo Spruce, Picea ajanensis, Picea kamchatkensis, Picea komarovic, Picea microsperma
Tolerates sandy to clay soils. It can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soil.