Spruce is a well-known evergreen coniferous tree that is common in temperate and subtropical latitudes. These trees are easily recognizable for their conical shape, long spindle-shaped buds and hard, sharp needles. We often meet spruce even in everyday urban life: its wood is used to make furniture, musical instruments, and interior decoration. And, of course, the traditional New Year tree decorates our homes, giving a festive mood and expecting a miracle. But how much do we know about her?

Biology

In addition to the ability to stay green all year round, spruce is a long-lived tree. Some species can live up to 800 years successfully withstanding extreme weather conditions.

Spruce is a monoecious plant. This means that both male and female cones can be found on every tree. It is noteworthy that the female cones are larger than the male ones.

Unlike pine cones, spruce cones ripen in the same autumn, in October-November. At this time, they can be collected to plant a spruce in your area.

From afar, spruce is easily confused with fir. You can distinguish them by cones (in spruce they always hang down). The second fundamental difference is the needles. Both spruce and fir needles grow one at a time, but in the first they are hard and diamond-shaped in cross section, and in the second they are soft and flat.

The Christmas tree is a fast growing tree. Landscape designers willingly use it when they need to quickly green up a space. The champion in growth is the Sitka spruce - it can grow up to more than 98 meters in height and more than 2.5 meters in girth of the trunk. It is found in North America near the coasts, in areas where there are no very severe frosts.

The world's oldest Christmas tree has been discovered in Norway. Its elevated part looks unpresentable - only 16 meters in height. And in itself it is not so old - it is only a few centuries old. However, using the method of radiocarbon analysis, scientists found out that the underground part of the tree was already 9.550 years. This tree is probably the oldest on the planet. It grew shortly after the ice age ended and the ice receded from Scandinavia. Scientists suggest that for thousands of years, due to the harsh climate of the tundra, spruce looked like a shrub. And only in recent centuries, when there has been a warming, this shrub has turned into a full-fledged tree. Geologist Leif Kullman, who discovered the unusual tree, named it after his dog. Tikko.

Symbolism

The custom of decorating the Christmas tree for Christmas came to us from Germany. Therefore, during the war, from 1914 to 1918, this tradition was banned. In the 1920s, spruce again fell into disgrace along with other attributes of religious holidays. And only in the 30s she returned to the homes of citizens of the USSR as a symbol of the New Year.
In Scandinavian mythology, the evergreen spruce was considered a symbol of eternal life. Therefore, she was invariably present in funeral pyres.
Spruce is present on the coats of arms of many Russian cities: Yelnya, Konakovo, Nelidovo, Vologda, Lesosibirsk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Yelets, Boksitogorsk, Troitsk, Novodvinsk.

Spruce wood is used in the manufacture of musical instruments: violins, guitars, mandolins, cellos, grand pianos and harps. The great masters Amati and Stradivari made their famous spruce violins.
For the manufacture of musical instruments, the so-called "resonant" spruce, which has a special structure, is especially valued. A suitable tree is selected according to many criteria: the shape of the trunk, the appearance of the bark, the absence of any damage, etc.

Healing properties

Spruce resin is considered very beneficial for health and has the appropriate name - "resin". Traditional medicine recommends it as an ingredient in various ointments to improve blood circulation, treat rheumatism, muscle pain, etc.
The navigator and discoverer John Cook stocked up with him on long voyages an alcoholic drink, which included fresh spruce shoots. Crew members were required to drink it to prevent scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency.

Spruce is a friend of man

Its light wood is easily split with an ax, so at one time it was a popular roofing material: shingles and shingles were made from spruce.
Flexibility allows it to be used for the manufacture of various wooden arches, runners and skis. Young trees were sometimes used as ropes for rafts - thick logs were fastened with them like ropes.
Aircraft pioneers, the Wright brothers, chose spruce wood to make their first aircraft, the Flyer 1. They chose this material because of its strength and lightness.
Some types of spruce are cultivated as a source of "pulp" wood, which is used in the manufacture of paper.
Until today, the recipe for spruce beer has been preserved, which in the old days was very popular in America, Canada, Scotland and Scandinavia. The drink is made from young branches, buds and cones. It has a rather specific taste, so this drink is not for everyone.

In total, scientists have more than 40 different types of fir trees, 18 of which can be seen in Russia. But, despite the commonness of spruce for humans in our latitudes, several of its species are endangered. One of the most striking examples is the Martinez spruce (Picea martinezii), of which there are only a few hundred specimens left in the wild. The situation is similar with the Chihuahua spruce (Picea chihuahuana), which was discovered only in 1942 by the famous Mexican botanist, Maximino Martinez. According to scientists, today there are only 25 populations of this tree in the wild.