Picea asperata

Picea asperata
	Immature Picea asperata growing in the Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan, China
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Genus:	Picea
Species:	P. asperata
Binomial name
	Picea asperata; Mast.
Varieties
	See text

Picea asperata (dragon spruce; Chinese: 雲杉) is a spruce native to western China, from eastern Qinghai, southern Gansu and southwestern Shaanxi south to western Sichuan.

Description

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.

Varieties

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.

Conservation

The species is currently not listed as

threatened, but recently population numbers have been declining due to deforestation caused by the Chinese logging industry.^[1]

Uses

Picea asperata is occasionally grown as an

ornamental tree in Europe and North America

. It is also used in the production of stringed instruments.

Gallery

Photo taken in Yulong Snow Mountain, Yunnan, China.。
Photo taken in Yulong Snow Mountain, Yunnan, China.。
Rogów Arboretum, Poland

References

^
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
^ In: J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 37: 419. 1906 "Plant Name Details for Picea asperata". IPNI. Retrieved March 30, 2010.

External links

Media related to Picea asperata at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Picea asperata at Wikispecies

Gymnosperm Database: Picea asperata

[iucn-1] 
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
. Retrieved March 30, 2010.

[ipni-2] In: J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 37: 419. 1906 "Plant Name Details for Picea asperata". IPNI. Retrieved March 30, 2010.

[1]

[2]