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Himalayan Spruce
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Himalayan Spruce
ative Photo: Anil Thakur
Common name: Himalayan Spruce, Morinda Spruce, West Himalayan Spruce, Indian Spruce • Hindi: राई Rai • Nepali: झुले सल्लो Jhule sallo, जुरे सल्ला Jure Sallaa, झुले सल्ला Jhuse Sallaa
Botanical name: Picea smithiana    Family: Pinaceae (Pine family)
Synonyms: Picea morinda

Himalayan Spruce is a large evergreen tree growing to 40-55 m tall (exceptionally to 60 m), and with a trunk diameter of up to 1-2 m. It has a conical crown with level branches and usually pendulous branchlets. The shoots are pale buff-brown, and hairless. The leaves are needle-like, the longest of any spruce, 3-5 cm long, rhombic in cross-section, mid-green with inconspicuous stomatal lines. The cones are broad cylindric- conic, 9-16 cm long and 3 cm broad, green when young, maturing buff-brown and opening to 5-6 cm broad 5-7 months after pollination; the scales are stiff and smoothly rounded. Morinda Spruce is a popular ornamental tree in large gardens in western Europe for its attractive pendulous branchlets. The name morinda derives from the tree's name in Nepalese.

Identification credit: Gurcharan Singh, Anil Thakur Photographed in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh & Gulmarg, Kashmir.

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