Picea abies
Norway Spruce
Mature Size, Growth, Longevity
Average mature size 40-60' tall, 20-30' wide, to over 100' tall in optimum conditions. Pyramidal habit, w/ pendulous side branchlets. Growth rate is medium to fast; one of the fastest growing spruces. This tree has a genetic longevity potential of over 200 years, or even to 300-400 years in its northern range.
Native Range
Native to N. & central Europe, from Ural Mountains to Balkan Peninsula to Switzerland, Norway & N. Finland. Introduced to the British Isles in 1500 A.D.
Flower and Fruit Details
Flowers monoecious, male axillary and infrequent, female terminal, spread on the crowns of the trees, and reddish-pink in color. Fruits in cylindrical cones, 4-6" long, 1.5-2" wide, pendulous, starting purple or green changing to light brown at maturity. Brownish-black seeds are 1/6-1/2" long with a 1/2" wide brown wing. Cones persist on the tree through the winter.
Leaf and Bark Features
Evergreen: Needles 4-sided, 0.5-1" long, bright green to purplish, dark green with age, evergreen. Needles on top of stems overlap & point forwards; those beneath point sideways, exposing the brownish-orange color of the stem. New leafy shoots used in spruce beer. Bark usually thin on young trees, thickening with age, with small thin gray-brown flaking surface scales. Tips of small side branches are brownish-orange colored underneath.
Culture and Care
Has a shallow, spreading root system, so is easy to transplant. Does best in moderately moist, sandy, acid, well-drained soils, but tolerates clay. Not drought-tolerant. Prefers a cold climate and full sun. Zone 3-7. Plants in heavy shade become thin and ragged. Susceptible to spider mites & bagworms. Cytospora canker disease can kill back branches. Needlecast diseases may do damage. Diseases are worst in shaded areas, or after a wet spring or a prolonged drought.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts
Good wildlife value. 4-season interest: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Overplanted. Loses its form in old age. May get too large for small landscapes. Author/plantsman, Michael Dirr, considers this one of the 5 best spruces for general landscape use in the Midwest, East, and Upper South. Resin in bark used for making varnish & medicines. The genus, "Picea" from Latin, "pix", for pitch/resin in the bark.
Suggested Uses
Use as a windbreak, shelter, or specimen plant (best when young).
Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA
The following taxa are (or were) represented in the collections at Boone County Arboretum. Additional taxa may be available in the trade that are not included here.
Picea abies 'Acrocona' // Acrocona Dwarf Norway Spruce
Tree. Slow growing to 5-10' (occasionally to 20') tall & wide. Grows into a broad, upright spreading shrub or small tree. Bright red flowers and showy, immature red cones at branch ends in the spring. Cones change to a buff or tan color by summer, hanging on the tree on lateral branches for a full year. Cones are abundant in early years. Strong, short, broad pointed, dark green needles in bundles in-between the cones. Propagated by grafting. Found in Uppsala, Sweden in 1890.
-- not currently in our collection --Picea abies 'Clanbrassiliana' // Lord Clanbrassil's Norway Spruce, Clanbrassiliana Norway Spruce
Tree. True dwarf form, will grow 1-6" per year, average mature size 4-5' tall and 3-4' wide in the landscape, possibly larger in optimal conditions. It forms a low, dense, dark green, dwarf conical to pyramidal shape, or a flat-topped mound, broader than tall. Very short, bright green needles. Brownish-orange buds. Prefers pH 5.6-7.5, in Zones 3-8. Becomes quite handsome with age, and often lives over 100 years. Named for Lord Clanbrassil of Ireland who introduced several Picea abies cultivars in the 1700s.
BT005401 - BT005402 - BT005421Picea abies 'Cupressina' // Columnar Norway Spruce, Cypress Norway Spruce, Cupressina Norway Spruce
Tree. A medium to fast growing selection of Norway Spruce to 10-30' tall and 5-10' wide. Forms a strong central leader with dense, upward-sweeping side branches, becoming a narrow pyramidal tree. Better and narrower than 'Pyramidata'. Blue-green winter foliage. A good accent plant, especially for tight or narrow spaces. Zone 2-7. The name, 'Cupressina', acknowledges its similarity to Cypress (Cupressus). Found in a German forest in 1904.
BT005531bPicea abies 'Nidiformis' // Bird's Nest Spruce, Nest Norway Spruce
Shrub. A spreading, dense, tightly-branched, broad habit, slowly growing to 2-6' tall, 4-10' wide. A depression in the center of its otherwise flat top gives rise to the common name "Bird's Nest Spruce" and cultivar name 'Nidiformis,' Latin for "nest-shaped." With age, the center eventually builds up & loses the bird's nest character. New shoots emerge bright green in spring, can be injured by a late frost when still young. Needles become grayish-green, and stay short, only 0.5-0.75" long. Zone 3-7. Originated near Hamburg, Germany in 1904.
Bed 19 - Bed 184Picea abies 'Pendula' // Weeping Norway Spruce
Tree. A dark green needled spruce, having an unusual, irregular shape with variable height and width. When staked and trained up to desired height (to 10-20' tall), it makes a commanding specimen tree. The graceful, pendulous branches and side branchlets cascading downward gives the tree an overall soft weeping habit with age. If not staked and trained upward in youth, it becomes a groundcover, and is often used this way in rock gardens. Medium growth rate. May be the same as 'Inversa'. Zones 3-7.
BT005400Picea abies 'Pumila' // Dwarf Norway Spruce
Shrub. Average mature size 2-4' tall and 3-6' wide. Slow to medium growth rate. Compact, dwarf habit may be flattened or globe-shaped. Gets wider than tall, as lower branches spread out, but upper shoots grow more upright. Densely branched on stiff, reddish-brown branches with 2/5" needled foliage of various shades of green and blue-green. Small, reddish-brown winter buds. Very cold hardy. Zone 3-7. Use in rock gardens, foundations, borders, or as a small specimen.
Bed 167Picea abies 'Pumila Nigra' // Dwarf Dark Norway Spruce, Dwarf Black Norway Spruce
Shrub. A dwarf, broad, globular, flattened, low, mounded shrub. 3-4' tall and wide. Slow to medium growth rate, especially in youth. Branchlets dark brown, with short, shiny, crowded, erect, dark-green needles to 0.5". Winter buds conical, pointed, dark brown. Newly-emerged spring needles are light green, for an interesting contrast. Drought tolerant once established. Full sun. Deer-resistant, Verticillium wilt resistant. Zone 3-8. A low maintenance plant for rock gardens, borders, or as a specimen.
Bed 20Picea abies 'Remontii' // Remontii Norway Spruce, Remonti Norway Spruce, Remont Norway Spruce
Tree. Dwarf to semi-dwarf, conical, broad-upright or oval, densely branched, 8-15' tall, & 5-10' wide, with narrow-angled, ascending branches. Twigs light yellow, winter buds conical pointed. Very short needles, only 1/5-to 2/5" long. Needles are thin, soft, light green to yellowish-green. Use in a screening or as a specimen plant. Zone 3-7. Dates back to 1874 in the United Kingdom.
-- not currently in our collection --