Picea brachytyla

Picea brachytyla or Sargent's spruce is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found in China, Myanmar, Arunachal Pradesh in India, and possibly in Bhutan. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Description

A tree. It grows to 30 m tall. The trunk is 1 m across. The bark is grey. It is cracked along its length into thick square plates. The crown is cone shaped. The branches hang down. They change form yellow to brown with maturity. The leaves are directed forward and pressed together in the upper side. They are spreading under the branches. They can be slightly curved or straight and flattened. They are 1-2.2 cm long by 1-1.5 mm wide. They are keeled on both sides. The seed cones are green, red or purple brown. They are 6-10 cm long by 3-4 cm wide. The seeds are about 1.2 cm wide.

Edible Uses

Young male catkins can be eaten raw or cooked and are used as a flavouring. Immature female cones are edible cooked; the central portion, when roasted, is sweet and syrupy. Inner bark can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickener in soups or added to cereals when making bread — an emergency food when all else fails. The seed is edible raw but is too small and fiddly to be worthwhile unless food is scarce. A refreshing tea rich in vitamin C can be made from the young shoot tips.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It grows on mountain slopes, valleys and river basins between 1500-3800 m altitude in N China. It suits hardiness zones 8-10. Arboretum Tasmania.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia, Bhutan, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Myanmar, SE Asia, Tasmania,

Propagation

Stratification will likely improve germination, so sow fresh seed in autumn in a cold frame if possible. Sow stored seed as early in the year as possible in a cold frame in a position of light shade; do not allow seed to dry out, and store it in a cool place. Prick out seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle and grow on in a greenhouse or cold frame for their first winter; plant out in early summer of the following year or grow on in an outdoor nursery bed for a further year. Protection from spring frosts may be needed. Cuttings of semi-ripe terminal shoots, 5–8cm long, taken in August in a frame with frost protection, form roots in spring. Cuttings of mature terminal shoots, 5–10cm long, taken in September/October in a cold frame, take 12 months to root. Cuttings of soft to semi-ripe wood taken in early summer in a frame are slow but reliable.

Other Uses

Wood is soft and not strong; used for general construction and valued for paper pulp production. The timber is also used for aircraft, machines and wood pulp.

Notes

There are between 30 and 40 species of Picea.

Synonyms

Also Known As

The young male flowers are used as flavouring. The immature female cones are cooked. The young shoot tips are used for tea. The very small seeds can be eaten. The inner bark is cooked and used to thicken soups.

References (7)

• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 453
• Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 1040
• L. Diels, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 29:216. 1900
• Fu Liguo, Li Nan, Mill, R.R., Pinaceae. Flora of China.
• Hibbert, M., 2002, The Aussie Plant Finder 2002, Florilegium. p 233

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