Dragon Spruce

Taxobox
name = Dragon Spruce
status = LR/lc | status_system = IUCN2.3
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Pinophyta
classis = Pinopsida
ordo = Pinales
familia = Pinaceae
genus = "Picea"
species = "P. asperata"
binomial = "Picea asperata"
binomial_authority = Mast.

The Dragon Spruce ("Picea asperata"; Chinese: "Yun Shan") is a spruce native to western China, from eastern Qinghai, southern Gansu and southwestern Shaanxi south to western Sichuan.

It is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 25-40 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m. The shoots are orange-brown, with scattered pubescence. The leaves are needle-like, 1-2.5 cm long, rhombic in cross-section, greyish-green to bluish-green with conspicuous stomatal lines. The cones are cylindric-conic, 6-15 cm long and 2-3 cm broad, maturing pale brown 5-7 months after pollination, and have stiff, rounded to bluntly pointed scales.

It is a variable species with several varieties listed. These were first described as distinct species (and are still so treated by some authors), although they differ only in minor details, and some may not prove to be distinct at all if a larger population is examined:
*"Picea asperata" var. "asperata". Cones 6-12 cm; cone scales with a rounded apex.
*"Picea asperata" var. "aurantiaca" (syn. "P. aurantiaca"). Shoots orange.
*"Picea asperata" var. "heterolepis" (syn. "P. heterolepis"). Shoots hairless; cone scales with a rhombic apex.
*"Picea asperata" var. "ponderosa". Cones large, 12-15 cm.
*"Picea asperata" var. "retroflexa" (syn. "P. retroflexa"). Shoots yellowish.

The species is currently not listed as threatened, but recently population numbers have been declining due to deforestation caused by the Chinese logging industry.

"P. asperata" is occasionally grown as an ornamental tree in Europe and North America.

References and external links

*
* [http://www.conifers.org/pi/pic/asperata.htm Gymnosperm Database: "Picea asperata"]