Norway spruce description, beneficial properties of needles. Norway spruce or European spruce

Spruce (lat. Picea) is an evergreen coniferous tree, a symbol of the New Year. Belongs to the pine order, pine family, spruce genus. The height of a spruce can reach 50 meters, and the lifespan of a tree can be 600 years, although usually a tree lives up to 250-300 years.

Spruce – description, appearance, photo.

U young tree During the first 15 years of growth, the root system has a tap structure, but then it develops as a superficial one, since as it matures, the main root dies off. In the first years of its life, the spruce grows upward and practically does not produce lateral branches. The straight trunk of the spruce has a round shape and gray bark, exfoliating into thin plates. Spruce wood low-resinous and homogeneous, white with a light golden tint.

The pyramidal or cone-shaped crown of the spruce is composed of whorled branches growing almost perpendicular to the trunk. Short spruce needles located on the branches in a spiral pattern and has a tetrahedral or flat shape. The color of the needles is usually green, blue, yellowish or gray. The needles remain viable for 6 years, and the fallen ones are renewed annually. Some insects are partial to spruce needles (for example, nun butterflies) and eat the needles so much that brush shoots are formed on damaged spruce branches - very short and hard needles that look like brushes.

Spruce cones have a slightly pointed, slightly elongated cylindrical shape. They can reach a length of 15 cm and have a diameter of at least 4 cm. The spruce cone is an axis, and around it grows many covering scales, in the axils of which the seed scales are located. On the upper part of the seed scales, 2 ovules are formed, endowed with a false wing. Spruce seeds ripen in October, after which the seeds are dispersed by the wind and remain viable for 8-10 years.

Types of fir trees, names and photos.

Today, more than 45 species of spruce have been studied, growing in natural conditions and having a trunk height from 30 cm to 50 m, different crown structures and various colors of needles. Among all the representatives of this genus, the most famous are the following varieties:

European (ordinary) spruce (lat. Picea abies). evergreen coniferous tree, average height which is 30 m, but there are specimens 50 meters high. The crown of the spruce is cone-shaped, the branches are whorled, drooping or prostrate, the bark of the trunk is dark gray in color, and with age it begins to peel off in thin plates. Spruce needles are tetrahedral, arranged in a spiral on spruce paws. Common spruce forms huge forests in north-eastern Europe, is found in the mountainous regions of the Alps and Carpathians, in the Pyrenees and the Balkan Peninsula, in North America and middle lane Russia and even in the Siberian taiga.

Siberian spruce (lat. Picea obovata). A tall tree, up to 30 meters in height, with a pyramidal crown. The girth diameter of the Siberian spruce trunk can exceed 70-80 cm. The needles of the Siberian spruce are somewhat shorter than those of the common spruce and are more prickly. Siberian spruce grows in the forests of northern Europe, Kazakhstan and China, the Scandinavian Peninsula and Mongolia, the Urals and the Magadan region.

Eastern spruce (lat. Picea orientalis). The height of the tree varies from 32 to 55 meters, the crown is conical in shape, with densely spaced branches. The bark of the spruce trunk is low-resinous, gray-brown in color, and scaly. The needles are shiny, slightly flattened, tetrahedral, with a slightly rounded tip. Oriental spruce is widespread in the forests of the Caucasus and northern territories Asia, forms pure tracts there, or is found in mixed forests.

Korean spruce (lat. Picea koraiensis). A fairly tall coniferous tree, reaching 30-40 m in height, with a greyish-brown bark-colored trunk, girth up to 75-80 cm. The crown of this spruce species is pyramidal, drooping branches, pubescent with resinous tetrahedral, slightly blunt needles with a bluish bloom. Under natural conditions, Korean spruce grows in regions Far East, in China, in the Primorsky Territory and Amur region, in North Korea.

Ayan spruce (small-seeded, Hokkaido) (lat. Picea jezoensis). Externally, this type of spruce is very similar to European spruce. The pyramidal crown of the Ayan spruce has bright green, almost non-resinous needles with a sharp tip, the trunk height is usually 30-40 meters, occasionally up to 50 m, the girth of the trunk reaches a meter, and sometimes more. Spruce grows in the Far East region, in Japan and China, on Sakhalin and the territory Kamchatka region, in Korea and the Amur region, on the Kuril Islands, along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk and in the Sikhote-Alin mountains.

Tian – Shan spruce (lat. Picea schrenkiana subsp. tianschanica). Spruce trees of this species often reach a height of 60 m, and the trunk diameter is 1.7-2 meters. The crown of the Tien Shan spruce is cylindrical, less often pyramidal in shape. The needles are diamond-shaped, straight, or slightly curved. A distinctive feature is the presence of anchor roots, which are able to bend and cling tightly to stones or rocky ledges. Spruce grows in areas Central Asia, widespread in the Tien Shan mountains, especially common in Kazakhstan and the mountainous regions of Kyrgyzstan.

Spruce Glen (lat. Picea glehnii). Coniferous tree with a very dense, cone-shaped crown. The trunk height is from 17 to 30 meters, the diameter varies from 60 to 75 cm. The bark is covered with scale plates and has a beautiful chocolate hue. The long tetrahedral needles are slightly curved, sharp in young trees and slightly blunt in mature specimens. The needles are dark green, with a bluish bloom, and have a tart spruce aroma. Glen spruce grows in Japan, in the southern regions of Sakhalin, in the south of the Kuril Islands.

Canadian spruce (gray spruce, white spruce) (lat. Picea glauca). A slender evergreen tree, most often not exceeding 15-20 meters in height, the trunk diameter of the Canadian spruce is no more than 1 meter in diameter. The bark on the trunk is quite thin, covered with scales. The crown is narrowly conical in young specimens, and in adult spruce trees it takes on the shape of a cylinder. The spruce needles are long (up to 2.5 cm), blue-green in color, and diamond-shaped in cross-section. Canadian spruce grows in the states North America, often found in Alaska, Michigan, South Dakota.

Red spruce (lat. Picea rubens). An evergreen tree, with a height of 20 to 40 meters, but under poor growing conditions it can have a height of only 4-6 meters. The diameter of the red spruce trunk rarely exceeds 1 meter, but is usually 50-60 centimeters. The crown is cone-shaped, significantly expanding towards the base of the trunk. The needles are quite long - 12-15mm, practically do not prick, as they have a rounded tip. This type spruce is common in England and Canada, grows in the Appalachian mountains and in Scotland, found almost along the entire Atlantic coast.

Serbian spruce (lat. Picea omorika). An evergreen representative of coniferous trees, with a height of 20 to 35 meters, Serbian spruce trees are very rarely found, reaching a height of 40 meters. The crown of the spruce is pyramidal, but narrow, and closer to columnar in shape. The branches are short, sparse, slightly raised upward. The spruce needles are green, shiny, with a slightly bluish tint, slightly flattened on top and bottom. This type of spruce is very rare: in natural environment grows only in Western Serbia and Eastern Bosnia.

Blue spruce, she's the same prickly spruce(lat. Picea pungens)- a very popular type of spruce, often used as an ornamental plant. Blue spruce can grow up to 46 meters in height, although the average tree height is 25-30 m, and the trunk diameter is up to 1.5 m. The crown of young spruce trees has a narrow conical shape, and with age it turns into cylindrical. The needles, 1.5-3 cm long, come in different shades - from grayish-green to bright blue. Spruce cones, 6-11 cm long, can be reddish or purple, turning light brown when ripe. Blue spruce grows in western North America (from Idaho to New Mexico), where it is widespread in wet soils along the banks mountain rivers and streams.

Dwarf spruce, varieties and types, names and photos.

Among the huge variety of species and varieties of spruce trees, dwarf spruce trees are especially popular - amazing elements of landscape design and a wonderful decoration for every garden. Dwarf spruce is durable, unpretentious, and easy to care for. These miniature trees amaze with the splendor of their shapes and colors and fit perfectly into rock gardens, rockeries, flower beds, and Japanese gardens. Here are some types of dwarf spruce trees:

Dwarf spruce Nidiformis- one of the forms of common spruce, a dense nest-like shrub with light green needles, grows up to 40 cm in height and no more than 1 m in width.

The result of the mutation of the common spruce variety Acrocona is an unusual plant of uneven shape, 30-100 cm in height and 50 cm in diameter. The small pink cones that form on different lengths shoots.

Dwarf blue spruce Glauka Globoza (Glauca Globosa)- one of the popular types of blue spruce with a dense, wide-conical crown and light blue crescent-shaped needles. By the age of 10, the tree grows up to 3 m in height and gradually becomes almost round.

A very decorative conifer with a symmetrical pyramidal crown and two-color needles: the needles are dark green above and light blue below. The tree grows up to 3-3.5 m in height, and the diameter of the crown at the base is 2.5 m.

Dwarf spruce Bialobok (Bialobok)- a unique variety of spruce of Polish selection with blue, silver and golden shades of needles. The Christmas tree becomes especially decorative in the spring, when young shoots of a whitish-cream color appear against the background of mature dark green needles. The height of a dwarf spruce is no more than 2 meters.

Spruce is a coniferous evergreen woody plant of the pine family. There are many species of this forest-forming species (approximately 50), but the most common is the common spruce. The tree's habitat is located in the forest zone Northern Hemisphere. Today, a certain pattern in the territorial habitat of spruce stands out. In the northern Caucasus there are signs of the presence of Caucasian spruce. In the steppe zone of the Russian Federation you can sometimes find white spruce. In Finland, middle and northern Europe and the European part of Russia, sprouting of common spruce is widespread. The life span of the plant is up to 300 years.

All available plant species have good shade tolerance, but develop better with sufficient sunlight. One of the properties of spruce is its demands on air and soil humidity. These trees prefer to breed on loamy and sandy loam soils without the proximity of groundwater.

If you make a description of a spruce tree, then distinctive features stand out, depending on the habitat of the tree. Each species differs in the type of cones, character and location of the needles, but there are still general characteristics. Spruce has a regular cone shape and can grow up to 50 m long. The tree grows hard, needle-shaped needles 2-3 cm long. The trunk of the plant consists of brownish-gray flaky bark. The branches of this species bloom in whorls. The spruce root system is located superficially and not deep into the soil, which gives the tree an unstable position. Therefore, during strong gusts of wind, common spruce trees often fall. The needles in this breed last up to 5-7 years.

In spring, cones begin to form. Spruce is a monoecious tree and has male and female cones growing on it. Male cones are laid throughout the crown of the tree and contain pollen (fine yellow powder). Female cones are located at the top of the crown of the common spruce and are bright red, green and brown, reaching a length of up to 15. Pollen is released abundantly onto various objects, which is noticeable to the naked eye. The spread of this tree species occurs because the cones contain two ovules, from which fertilization begins, and then the development of seeds. Spruce seeds are carried far from the mother tree into dry sunny days the final months of winter. Since the habitat of Russian residents is the European part, the growth of common spruce occurs on the territory.

Useful properties of the plant

Spruce needles are capable of secreting environment substances - phytoncides, which purify and disinfect oxygen and fill it with a wonderful coniferous smell. With the help of this forest species, good use eaten as large-scale landscaping, but not in urban settings. Only prickly spruce is resistant to the changing conditions of the city.
Among other things, spruce provides enormous benefits. This tree is used for alternative medicine recipes, baths and cosmetic procedures. The needles and fir cones of a tree contain useful qualities, which are used in folk medicine. The essential oil of spruce, which is contained in all parts of this forest species, has an effective anti-inflammatory and disinfecting effect.

Needles are used for antiseptic and antimicrobial effects. There is a particularly common recipe when crushed needles are taken and applied to a fresh wound, which quickly heals after such a procedure and, as a rule, does not become inflamed. Also, needles are used to prepare an infusion that treats any inflammatory, fungal and infectious diseases.

To prevent periodontal disease, caries and other dental diseases, Christmas tree resin is used, which must be chewed periodically. This method is also applicable against food poisoning. Using resin and wax inhalation, you can reduce the manifestation of bronchitis, clear the airways and increase the body's resistance to harmful environmental influences.
Tree cones contain essential oils, tannins, vitamin C and many other substances that are beneficial to the body. This vitamin complex from spruce cones can alleviate the signs and symptoms of most diseases, as it has antimicrobial, analgesic, diuretic, and anti-inflammatory effects.

What diseases does spruce help with?

This amazing plant can help with diseases, due to the fact that it contains beneficial properties, which have a beneficial effect on the final outcome of the pathological disorder and alleviate the symptoms. In folk medicine, spruce cones, needles, resin and bark of common spruce and other species are used as healing elements and miraculous recipes are prepared from them. Good use This plant is used for the following diseases:

radiculitis;
osteochondrosis;
respiratory diseases;
furunculosis;
purulent and inflammatory processes;
diseases of the genitourinary system;
neuroses and stress;
viral infections;
bronchial asthma;
rheumatism;
rhinitis and sinusitis;
scurvy.

In addition, spruce essential oil has a preventive effect. Vitamin complex supports immunity and prevents the development and complications of many diseases. The use of tinctures and all kinds of other recipes known in folk medicine can have a beneficial effect on the body, improve the properties of the skin, increase tone and relieve signs of nervous and psycho-emotional stress.

Traditional recipes for using spruce

Description of effective folk remedies to combat pathological conditions:

Tincture of tree cones. To prepare a healing remedy from cones, you need to take crushed young cones and pour boiling water in a ratio of 1:5. Next, the mixture needs to be boiled for half an hour and allowed to brew for 15 minutes. After preparation, the liquid is decanted, after which a brown decoction with a specific odor is obtained. The resulting product from fir cones is used for inhalation, 20 ml per procedure. This solution is also used to strengthen the immune system. To do this, take an infusion at a ratio of 1:10, add water and boil. For taste, add lemon and leave for 3 hours. You should take half a glass every day in the morning before meals. This product should be stored in a cool, dark place.
The description of the following recipe is suitable for the treatment of bronchitis, rhinitis and pneumonia, kidney disease, rheumatism and bronchial asthma. To prepare, you need to take young spruce branches with buds and pour a bottle of vodka. Next, the resulting mixture is tightly closed in a glass vessel and infused for 2 weeks. You need to take 3 times a day, 1 glass before meals.
Spruce bark makes a good anti-inflammatory patch. To do this, take wax and melted butter, is distributed evenly onto the bark and applied to the inflamed area.
A drink rich in vitamins and minerals will be made from spruce cones and needles. To prepare, you need to take fir cones and needles, rinse and add water. Next, you need to boil this composition for 30 minutes and let it brew for half an hour. Afterwards, the decoction of the cones is cooled and added in equal proportions to bottles of cranberry juice. Use as needed and store in the refrigerator.
To remove toxins from the body and improve immunity, you can use spruce oil. This remedy is also used to prevent skin diseases and urinary tract disorders.
It will help against scurvy. To do this, young needles are taken, crushed and boiled for half an hour. Next, the decoction is infused in a warm place for at least 3 hours and consumed 0.1 liters per day. This decoction helps eliminate the signs of an emerging disease, cleanse the blood of harmful impurities and have a tonic effect on the body.

Contraindications for the use of spruce

Such a noble plant can be not only beneficial, but also harmful. It is not recommended that any useful parts of this tree be used by people with peptic ulcer and chronic or acute gastritis. This is due to increased acidity during the disease, and the use of infusions from cones and other coniferous elements further increases the acidity and increases the chance of developing or complicating a peptic ulcer.

Special attention should be paid to allergy sufferers. After all, even taking a bath with spruce extract causes severe itching, skin rashes, runny nose and swelling. Sometimes this condition threatens a person's life.

Using spruce massage in the form of brooms during bath procedures can cause blood circulation problems and injure nearby capillaries. This situation is further aggravated by possible overheating in the bathhouse, which puts additional stress on the cardiovascular system.

The use of traditional medicine can be beneficial, but we should not forget about individual intolerance to coniferous components. Therefore, before use, even medicinal product, it is worth reading the description and seeing if the content contains an allergic product.

Translated - Picea abies, or it is simply called Christmas tree. It is a tall evergreen coniferous tree with a beautiful crown that resembles its appearance sharp cone shape. The plant has hanging seed cones; they are cylindrical in shape and can reach 15 centimeters in length. At the beginning of their development they are reddish, then their color changes to green, and when mature they acquire a brown color.

Pollination of the plant occurs in late spring or June. The seeds in the cones ripen around August. The harvest years of the common spruce are repeated every four or five years.

Plant distribution

This coniferous representative flora distributed almost everywhere, this plant can be especially often found in temperate climatic zone. As is known, spruce forms both pure and mixed forests, for example, in combination with birch.

Spruce part used

For medicinal purposes, it is customary to use still unripe seed cones, pine needles, and also use young tips of branches with small buds. They also obtain resin, this is the sap of this evergreen tree, and it has the property of quickly hardening in air. Turpentine is obtained from it, which is widely used not only in industry, but also in medicine.

A few words about the chemical composition of the raw material of common spruce. The following chemical components were identified in it: essential oil, which consists of felandrene, cadinene, pinene, lipentene, bornyl acetate. There is ascorbic acid, phytoncides, chlorophyll, carotene, resin, tannins, as well as a lot of different mineral compounds.

Collection of raw materials and procurement

It is customary to harvest cones of common spruce in the summer, before the seeds begin to ripen, that is, while still unripe. And in May, young shoots are collected, they are also called “paws”; it is recommended to dry them under a canopy, spreading them in a thin layer on a tray.

Use of spruce by humans

This representative of the flora has a whole spectrum useful actions, for example, preparations prepared from pine needles have a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, diaphoretic, choleretic, and antiscorbutic effect on the body.

Due to the presence of useful chemical compounds in their composition, spruce potions regulate the metabolic processes occurring in our body and help improve hematopoiesis.

Not only folk healers use this plant in their practice, it is also used in scientific medicine, in particular, they prepare an infusion from the cones, which has a positive effect during inhalations and rinsing for diseases such as rhinitis, sinusitis, tonsillitis, tonsillitis, laryngitis, pneumonia, pharyngitis and so on.

A decoction prepared from young buds is used to treat bronchitis and pulmonary tuberculosis; it is rubbed on sore joints with arthritis. From resinous spruce paws, which should only be collected early spring, prepare a medicinal tincture that has a disinfectant effect, and can be used in the presence of respiratory diseases.

A decoction is prepared from spruce buds, which has excellent expectorant properties. They also make syrup from this raw material, which is useful to take for illnesses. cardiovascular system, for example, with microinfarctions and myocarditis. Crushed spruce resin is actively used for external purposes in the presence of purulent wounds, abrasions and ulcers.

Turpentine, which is industrially obtained from the resin of common spruce, is widely used as an external agent with a local irritant effect, as a result of which it is used for medicinal rubbing and bathing.

It is worth saying that the Christmas tree has long been considered a symbol of wish fulfillment, and people turned to the spirits of this tree to help make their dreams come true. The energy of this tree can awaken a person’s intuition and open the gift of clairvoyance.

Ointment recipe

You can prepare a medicinal ointment based on the raw materials of this tree, in particular, you will need resin, as well as yellow wax, a little honey and sunflower oil, all these components should be taken in equal proportions, after which the composition is mixed well and placed on low heat in an enamel dishes, it is recommended to stir the drug frequently.

Next, the ointment should cool down, and you can transfer it to a glass jar, which is recommended to be closed with a tight lid and stored only in the refrigerator. It can be used to treat existing purulent wounds, and the product is carefully applied in a thin layer to the affected area up to two times a day.

Decoction recipe

You will need a tablespoon of prepared spruce buds, they need to be chopped a little, and then placed in an enamel saucepan. Next, add boiling water in the amount of a whole glass. After which everything is placed in the prepared water bath for ten minutes.

It is recommended to ensure that the broth does not boil violently; it should simmer quietly. Then it is removed from the stove and cooled. After which the liquid is poured into a clean container through a double gauze layer. You need to consume the finished drug 70 milliliters twice a day, you can add a little honey to the liquid.

It is recommended to store a decoction prepared from spruce buds only in the refrigerator, and no more than five days, since after this time it will simply lose its properties. medicinal properties, or it may begin to deteriorate and ferment.

Conclusion

We talked about how common spruce is useful for us (photo, characteristics, application, treatment with spruce). To use drugs prepared from common spruce, first consult a doctor for advice, and only after the doctor’s explicit approval can you begin to prepare the above-described recipes for medicinal purposes.

Picea abies
Taxon: family Pine ( Pinaceae).
Other names: Norway spruce
English: Norway Spruce, Christmas Tree

Description

Spruce- an elegant, slender evergreen tree up to 30-50 m high from the pine family. The crown of the tree has the shape of a regular narrow cone and descends almost to the ground. The top of the spruce is always sharp, it never becomes dull. A spruce grows tall and slender only when the topmost bud of the tree blooms normally every year and gives rise to a new shoot. If the apical bud of a young spruce tree is damaged or the shoot on which it is located is cut off, the appearance of the tree changes dramatically. The growth of the main trunk stops, the lateral branches closest to the top gradually rise upward. As a result, instead of a tall and slender tree, you get a short and ugly one. The spruce trunk is covered with flaky brownish-gray bark. The branches are arranged in whorls. The needles are needle-shaped, oblate-tetrahedral, dark green, shiny, 2-3 cm long, kept on the branches for 6-12 years. The needles of spruce are much shorter than those of pine. The lifespan of spruce needles is longer than that of pine needles. In spring, spruce, like pine, has male and female cones on its branches. This happens around the time when the bird cherry blossoms. Spruce- a monoecious plant, male spikelets are located in the lower part of the shoots in the axils of the needles. Female cones are elongated-cylindrical, young ones are bright red, late ones are green, in a mature state they are brown, up to 15 cm long. Pollen ripens in the male cone spikelets, resembling a fine yellow powder. Spruce dusts very abundantly. Pollen is carried far around by the wind and settles on various objects. It is noticeable even on the leaves of forest grasses. Spruce cones, which ripen in the first year, are formed by spirally arranged covering scales, in the axils of which there are two ovules, from which seeds develop after fertilization. The seeds are dark brown with wings, similar to pine seeds. Having fallen out of the cone, they spin in the same way in the air like a propeller. Their rotation is very fast, and their fall is slower. Seeds carried by the wind can fly quite far away from the mother tree. Seed dispersal occurs at the end of winter, on dry sunny days.
Unlike pine, spruce is shade-tolerant. Its lower branches do not die off and are preserved, so it is dark and damp in spruce forests. Spruce has a much smaller root system than pine and is located in top layer soil, so the tree is unstable and often strong winds knock it to the ground.
Spruce grows well under the canopy of pine, birch, and oak. She, like other shade-tolerant trees, has a thick, dense crown that allows little light to pass through.
One of the characteristics of spruce is its sensitivity to late spring frosts. The return of cold weather in the spring destroys its young, newly emerged, not yet strong shoots. Young fir trees damaged by frost can sometimes be seen at the beginning of summer somewhere in the open (in a clearing, in a large clearing in the middle of a forest, etc.). Some of their needles are green and old, but the young shoots are withered and brown, as if scorched by fire.
In spruce, like in pine, the annual rings of wood are clearly visible on the cross section of the trunk. Some growth rings are wider, others are narrower. The width of the annual ring largely depends on the environmental conditions in which the tree grows (temperature, humidity, light, nutrient supply, etc.). How better conditions, the wider the ring. In years that are especially favorable for wood weather conditions rings are especially wide. Since spruce creates very strong shading, only fairly shade-tolerant plants can exist under its canopy. There are usually few shrubs in a spruce forest; the soil is covered with a continuous green carpet of mosses, against which a few taiga grasses and dense thickets of blueberries grow (this type of forest is called a spruce-blueberry forest). Where the soil is better supplied with nutrients and sufficiently drained, as a rule, a continuous cover of wood sorrel develops - a small herbaceous plant with trifoliate leaves, like clover (this type of forest is called spruce-wood sorrel). On soils, especially poor and very damp, a continuous rather thick carpet of cuckoo flax moss is spread under the spruce trees (the name of such a forest is a long-spruce forest).
In a spruce forest, due to strong shading, the shoots of almost all tree species quickly die. However, the regrowth of the spruce tree itself persists for a very long time under these conditions. However, he looks very depressed. The trees are smaller than a person, similar in shape to an umbrella, their crown seems to be flattened, very loose. Living branches are very thin, with sparse short needles, the stem is like a ski pole. If you cut off such a stem at the bottom with a sharp knife, then in the cross section you can see unusually narrow growth rings, almost indistinguishable to the naked eye. They can only be seen with a strong magnifying glass. The reason for this is the fact that in deep shade the tree produces almost no organic matter, and therefore cannot produce much wood.
Spruce sprouts are almost the same as those of pine. They are quite rare in the forest. This is explained by the fact that the thin, weak root of a germinating seed is often unable to “break through” a thick layer of dry fallen needles. But many seedlings occur where this obstacle is not present - on rotten tree trunks lying on the ground, on rotten stumps, on recently exposed areas of soil, etc.

Spreading

The area of natural distribution of common spruce in our country is almost the entire northern half of the European part. In the most northern regions In this territory, as well as in the Urals and Siberia, a closely related species, Siberian spruce (Picca obovata), grows. Spruce occupies 10% of the forest area, forming spruce forests and is part of mixed forests, one of the most common tree species. In the European part of the country, spruce does not spread far to the south, as it is quite moisture-loving. East of the Urals replaced by a related species - Siberian spruce, in the Caucasus - oriental spruce.

Growing

Spruce propagates by seeds. This tree cannot grow in climates that are too dry. Spruce also does not tolerate dry soil. In this respect, it is much more demanding than pine, which grows well on very dry sands. Spruce is more demanding than pine in terms of soil fertility. It does not grow in extremely nutrient-poor high-moor (sphagnum) bogs.

Collection and preparation

Needles, immature cones, and young tops of spruce branches are used as medicinal raw materials. The cones are collected in the summer before the seeds ripen and dried on racks under a canopy.

Chemical composition

Essential oils, resins, tannins, phytoncides, and minerals were found in the cones. Spruce needles contain ascorbic acid (200-400 mg/%) and the same substances as cones.

Use of spruce in medicine

A decoction and infusion of cones is used for diseases of the upper respiratory tract and bronchial asthma, pine needles as an anti-scurvy agent, especially in winter time. The needles also have a diuretic and antimicrobial effect. It is recommended for diseases of the kidneys and bladder. In folk medicine, a decoction of buds and young cones is used in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, scurvy, dropsy, and inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system.

Medicines

Infusion spruce needles: 20-25 g of crushed needles are brewed with boiling water (1:5), boiled for 10 minutes, then infused for 10 minutes, this dose is taken during the day. This infusion is drunk for scurvy and respiratory diseases.
A decoction of spruce cones. The cones are crushed, poured with water (1:5), boiled for half an hour, the resulting decoction is gargled and dripped into the nose. Bath infusion. The paws are boiled with salt, and the resulting decoction is added to baths for joint pain of various origins.
The spruce forest is clean, but it has a depressing effect on a person who communicates little with it, although the spruce is a donor tree, not a vampire, but when there are many donors nearby, they have a bad effect on each other.

Use on the farm

Spruce has wide application in the national economy. Its wood is large quantities goes, for example, to make paper. Spruce wood is used to produce cellulose, artificial silk and much more; it is widely used in construction. Spruce wood is an indispensable material for the manufacture of some musical instruments(for example, violin tops are made from it, etc.).
Spruce is also an important supplier of tannins, which are necessary for tanning leather. These substances in our country are obtained mainly from spruce bark. Our other plants as sources of tannins are of much less importance (the bark of oak, willow, larch, rhizome of the herbaceous plant bergenia, etc. is used).

A little history

Spruce is not only a New Year's tree. It is constantly used to accompany a person to last path. Spruce branches are placed under the coffin, and wreaths are made from spruce branches. This tree is both festive and mournful. Phytoncides of needles disinfect the room, expel " evil spirits" It is believed that when a body is removed from the house with the help of fir branches, all the bad things that sent a person on his last journey are removed; the spruce eases the suffering of his soul, which has not yet had time to finally part with the body - this will take 40 days. Fir branches lying on the grave help ease the soul of the deceased.
Sometimes healers and witches, reading conspiracies, as if to strengthen, enhance the effect, burn a small sprig of spruce in an iron bowl and see how the ashes are arranged, in what form - promising or not.

Photos and illustrations

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Other names: European spruce.

Diseases and effects: pneumonia, cough, skin rashes, scurvy, rheumatism, inflammatory processes in the respiratory system, bronchial asthma, radiculitis, heart disease, fever, renal colic, scurvy, gout, purulent wounds, skin ulcers, pulmonary tuberculosis, dropsy, sore throat, chronic tonsillitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis, vasomotor rhinitis, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia.

Active substances: essential oil, ascorbic acid, tannins, resins, phytoncides, mineral salts, turpentine, formic acid, succinic acid, flavonoids.

Time to collect and prepare the plant: January - December.

Botanical description of Norway spruce

Norway spruce is a coniferous evergreen tree of the first size, up to 50 m high, of the family Pine (Pinaceae). This is one of the main forest-forming species, and in Russian forests spruce is the most ancient tree. Its origin dates back to the Cretaceous period Mesozoic era. A spruce grows tall and slender only when the topmost bud of the tree blooms normally every year and gives rise to a new shoot. If the apical bud of a young spruce tree is damaged or the shoot on which it is located is cut off, the appearance of the tree changes dramatically. The growth of the main trunk stops, the lateral branches closest to the top gradually rise upward. As a result, instead of a tall and slender tree, you get a short and ugly one.

Root system Spruce is shallow and located in the top layer of soil, so the tree is unstable and often strong winds knock it to the ground.

Trunk straight, columnar, reaching 1-2 m in diameter.

Crown tree pyramidal, pointed, low pubescent. Young branches are longitudinally grooved. The branches grow horizontally or arched upward. The top of the spruce is always sharp, it never becomes dull.

Bark red or gray, peels off in thin scales.

Needles fragrant, needles are tetrahedral, pointed, bright green or dark green, up to 15-20 mm long, located around a branch that is densely covered, sitting on a tubercle. The needles stay on the branches for 6-12 years.

Flowers bisexual, monoecious. The male ones have cylindrical-elongated spikelets, wrapped in light green scales at the base. Seed cones are hanging, oblong, cylindrical, first red, then green and finally brown, scaly, from 10 to 16 cm long, 3-4 cm wide after opening. Male strobili (“inflorescences”) of anthers collected together are located in the lower part of the crown, female ones - closer to the top of the tree. Spruce pollen is carried quite far by the wind, settling on various objects. It is noticeable even on the leaves of forest grasses.

Seeds dark brown with a wing that is three times longer than the seed itself. Seed scales up to 25 mm long and up to 18 mm wide. Having fallen from the cone, the seeds spin in the air like a propeller. Their rotation is very fast, and their fall is slower. Seeds carried by the wind can fly quite far away from the mother tree. Seed dispersal occurs at the end of winter, on dry sunny days.

Norway spruce blooms in May - June, and the fruits ripen in October.

The cone harvest occurs once every three to four years; in other years there is no fruiting or very little fruiting.

Norway spruce is a very shade-tolerant and frost-resistant tree, the age of which can reach 500 years or more. One of the characteristics of spruce is its sensitivity to late spring frosts. The return of cold weather in the spring destroys its young, newly emerged, not yet strong shoots.

In spruce, on a cross section of the trunk, the annual rings of wood are clearly visible. Some growth rings are wider, others are narrower. The width of the annual ring largely depends on the environmental conditions in which the tree grows (temperature, humidity, light, nutrient supply, etc.). The better the conditions, the wider the ring.

Distribution and habitat of Norway spruce

As an ornamental plant, it is widespread throughout Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Grows in parks, in the form of snow fences, etc.

It grows wild in Belarus (Polesie), Ukraine (Western and Volyn forest-steppe, Western Polesie), and in northwestern Russia. Very widely cultivated. The southern border of spruce distribution almost exactly coincides with the northern border of black soil. Spruce prefers cool places with moist air. In the mountains, spruce can grow at an altitude of up to 1800 m above sea level.

Spruces were grown for a long time as a monoculture. But in such areas pests, such as bark beetles, spread very quickly. Therefore, spruces began to be interspersed with other trees, so that now they are more often found in mixed forest plantations.

In the taiga zone, spruce trees form dark coniferous forests of the plains and mountain taiga forests in the middle mountains. Spruce forests occupy about 25% of the entire forest area of Russia.

Preparation of common spruce

IN medicinal purposes They use spruce buds, cones, oleoresin (resin) and their processed products, which are harvested in the spring.

The raw materials are dried in an oven or in an oven at moderate temperature(up to 60 °C).

Various cutting methods are used to obtain resin - tree sap that quickly hardens in air.

It is best to harvest needles in winter.

Chemical composition of Norway spruce

Essential oil, ascorbic acid, tannins, resins, phytoncides, and mineral salts were found in spruce needles. The vitamin C content can reach 300-400 mg%.

The bark contains a large amount of tannins (7-16%), and the resin (resin) contains turpentine, essential oil, formic and succinic acid.

Essential oils, resins, tannins, phytoncides, and minerals were found in the cones.

Pollen contains flavonoids, resinous substances, essential oils, and phytoncides.

Pharmacological properties of common spruce

Spruce needles have a diuretic, diaphoretic, choleretic and antiscorbutic effect. The needles have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and analgesic properties. Thanks to the availability large quantities ascorbic acid, carotene and chlorophyll, has the property of regulating metabolism and improving hematopoiesis.

The use of common spruce in medicine

Common spruce preparations are used for pneumonia, coughs, to cleanse the blood from skin rashes, for scurvy, and to treat rheumatism.

A decoction of young branches with cones is used for inhalation for inflammatory processes in the respiratory system and bronchial asthma, a decoction of pine needles is used for baths in the treatment of radiculitis.

From the shoots, bark, and pine needles, essential oil is extracted, which is necessary for the preparation of synthetic camphor - a medicine that is used in the treatment of heart diseases.

Turpentine is obtained from spruce (by steam distillation), the preparations terpinhydrate and pinabine, used for coughs and as an antipyretic, as well as an anesthetic and antispasmodic for renal colic.

Since ancient times, a decoction of spruce needles has been used as an antiscorbutic remedy.

To prepare pain-relieving dressings for rheumatism and gout, you can use pine needles crushed in a mortar and mixed with ordinary medical cotton wool.

To treat purulent wounds and skin ulcers, an ointment made from oleoresin, beeswax and sunflower (or olive) oil in equal parts is used externally.

In folk medicine, a decoction of buds and young cones is used in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, scurvy, dropsy, and inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system. An infusion of cones is used in the form of inhalations and gargles for sore throat and chronic tonsillitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis, vasomotor rhinitis, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, in order to prevent childhood diseases.

Activated carbon is obtained from spruce wood.

Dosage forms, method of use of common spruce and dose

Spruce needle infusion. Brew 150 ml of boiling water, 20-25 g of crushed needles, put on low heat and boil for 10 minutes, leave for 10 minutes, strain. Take this dose during the day for scurvy and respiratory diseases.

Vitamin infusion from spruce needles. Grind the needles in a mortar with a small amount cold boiled water, then add boiled water (1:10), add a little lemon juice or citric acid, put on low heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Leave for 3 hours, strain. Drink 1/2-1/3 glass 2 times a day after meals as a general tonic and antiscorbutic.

Decoction of spruce cones. Grind the cones, add water (1:5), boil for 30 minutes, leave for a while and strain through 3 layers of gauze. The resulting decoction brown gargle, drop into the nose. For inhalation, use a decoction heated to 60-80 °C: 20-30 ml per 1 procedure for adults. A decoction of young cones is used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchitis, and joint and muscle pain.

A decoction of young shoots or young cones of spruce. Pour 1 liter of boiling milk into 30 g of young shoots or young cones, put on low heat and boil for 30 minutes. Cool and strain. Divide into 3 parts and take throughout the day for the treatment of bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pharyngolaryngitis, rheumatism, pulmonary tuberculosis.

Bath infusion. Spruce paws are boiled with salt, and the resulting decoction is added to baths for joint pain of various origins.

Spruce resin ointment. Mix fir resin, yellow wax, sunflower or hemp oil in equal parts, heat over low heat until liquid-viscous and stir. After cooling, use it as an ointment or in the form of patches externally for purulent wounds and fistulas.

Spruce resin ointment. Mix equal parts of spruce resin, unsalted lard and yellow wax. Heat over low heat until liquid-viscous and stir. After cooling, it is used as an ointment to treat boils, carbuncles, and abscesses.

Spruce resin. Mix equal parts spruce resin and yellow wax, melt and cool. Place pieces of the mixture on hot coals and breathe in the smoke released during a prolonged cough or chronic bronchitis.

Spruce bud syrup. The buds are poured into a glass container in thin layers, layering each layer with sugar. Leave for 3-4 weeks. Drink 1 teaspoon 3 times a day.

Contraindications to the use of common spruce

Common spruce preparations are contraindicated for hyperacid gastritis and gastric ulcers. Pinabin is contraindicated for nephritis and nephrosis.

The use of common spruce in nutrition

Tea from shoots of common spruce

Shoots (75 g) are soaked for several hours in 1 liter of water, then boiled in the same water and infused for 10 minutes. Drink tea sweetened with honey or sugar, 1-2 glasses a day.

Other information about Norway spruce

The Latin name for spruce comes from the word pix- “resin”.

In addition to the common (European) spruce, 37 more species of spruce (Siberian, Sayan, eastern, etc.) are known that are capable of producing hybrid offspring. Of these, 7 are found in Russia. The most important tree species is Siberian spruce (Picea obovata), growing from the far north of Scandinavia to the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Between the White Sea and the Urals, it is the northernmost tree: the spruce strip forms the border of the forest, and most of the forest “islands” of the forest-tundra consist of spruce.

The main value of spruce is its excellent wood. Soft, light and resinous, it serves as the main raw material for paper production. Spruce wood is also irreplaceable in the manufacture of furniture and some musical instruments, for example, violins. In addition to turpentine, rosin is also obtained from spruce resin flowing from trees that have been tapped (i.e., by specially shaped notches made on the bark). The best violins and cellos, including works by the most famous masters of the past, Stradivarius and Amati, are made from spruce wood. Specially selected trees with equal distances between annual rings are still used to make soundboards for musical instruments (the so-called resonance spruce).

Infusions of spruce and pine needles saved the lives of many northern explorers. And when, in the mid-30s of the 20th century, scurvy became a big problem for builders of polar Norilsk, a special plant was built on the banks of the Yenisei to produce vitamin extract of pine needles.

In many ways, Finnish spruce (Picea fennica), which plays an important role in the European taiga, is similar to common and Siberian spruce, as well as Ayan spruce (Picea ajanensis), the most important species of Far Eastern forests. In the south of Sakhalin and on Kunashir Island, Glen spruce (Picea glehnii), listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, is widespread, and in the south of Primorye - Korean spruce (Picea koraiensis).

It is believed that the spruce forest is clean, but it has a depressing effect on a person who communicates little with it, although spruce is a donor tree, not a vampire, but when there are many donors nearby, they have a bad effect on each other.

During the “pollination” of the spruce, the bees collect its pollen, although not very willingly, since it has low nutritional value. Spruce seeds are fed by funny birds - spruce crossbills, whose beak is designed in such a way as to remove seed grains. Squirrels also do not disdain spruce seeds.

Spruce in history and mythology

In most world cultures, spruce symbolizes life. This is what the ancient Germanic tribes believed. They believed that in this evergreen coniferous tree The spirit of the forest lives, protecting plants, animals and birds. To appease this spirit, hunters brought their trophies and gifts to the tree.

And later in Christian Europe evergreen spruce was considered a symbol eternal life and unfading. This is where the custom of decorating a house with this tree at Christmas originates.

In addition, spruce is a symbol of courage, boldness, fidelity, immortality and royal dignity.

Spruce was used for their needs by Neolithic inhabitants (the village of Pazardzhik, Bulgaria).

It was believed that if lightning struck a spruce or if the spruce withered, then the death of the owner or mistress of the land on which this tree stood would come.