Picea purpurea

Mast.

Purple-coned spruce, Zi guo yun shan

Pinaceae Edible: Flowers, Inner bark, Seeds, Tea 20 iNaturalist observations

iNaturalist· cc-by

wikimedia· cc-by-sa

Wikimedia Commons - Crusier

Contribute a photo Sign in required

Summary

Source: Wikipedia

Picea purpurea, also known as purple cone spruce and purple-coned spruce is a species of spruce in the family Pinaceae. It is found only in China. It is likely to be a hybrid species produced by crosses between Picea likiangensis and Picea wilsonii, or possibly involving other species.

Description

A tree. It grows 50 m tall. The branches are 1 m across. The bark is dark grey and scaly. The crown is like a pyramid. The small branches are yellow then turn grey. They are densely hairy. The leaves spread out and on the upper side of the branches press forward. They are flattened. They are 7-12 mm long by 1.5-1.7 mm wide. They are keeled on both surfaces. The seed cones are purplish black and long and oval. They are 2.5-4 cm long by 1.7-3 cm wide. The seeds are 9 mm across. They are brown with a purple spotted wing.

Edible Uses

Young male catkins can be eaten raw or cooked and used as a flavouring. Immature female cones are edible when cooked — the central portion becomes sweet and syrupy when roasted. The inner bark can be dried and ground into a powder for use as a soup thickener or bread additive, though it is an emergency food used only when nothing else is available. The seed is raw-edible but too small and fiddly to be worth collecting except in desperate circumstances. Young shoot tips make a refreshing tea that is rich in vitamin C.

Medicinal Uses

The young shoot tips provide a tea rich in vitamin C. No other medicinal uses are known.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. In China they grow in mountains on N facing slopes between 2600-3800 m altitude. It suits hardiness zones 7-10.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia, China,

Cultivation

Likes abundant moisture at the roots, if grown in drier areas it must be given a deep moist soil. Tolerates poor peaty soils. Tolerates various sites. Succeeds in wet cold and shallow soils but is not very wind-firm in shallow soils. Prefers a pH between 4 to 6. Dislikes shade. Intolerant of atmospheric pollution. Resists wind exposure to some degree. Although dormant trees are cold-hardy, the young shoots in spring are often damaged by late frosts. In some upland areas, especially over granitic or other base-poor soils, growth rate and health have been seriously affected by aluminium poisoning induced by acid rain. Plants are strongly outbreeding, self-fertilized seed usually grows poorly. They hybridize freely with other members of this genus. Fairly fast growing after a slow start, trees can average height increases of 30 - 40cm a year. Trees should be planted into their permanent positions when they are quite small, between 30 and 90cm. Larger trees will check badly and hardly put on any growth for several years. This also badly affects root development and wind resistance.

Propagation

Sow fresh seed in autumn in a cold frame to benefit from natural stratification, or sow stored seed as early in the year as possible under the same conditions. Light shade is preferable. Keep seed moist and cool during storage. Prick out seedlings into individual pots once large enough to handle and overwinter in a greenhouse or cold frame. Plant out into permanent positions in early summer the following year, or grow on in an outdoor nursery bed for a further season. Spring frost protection may be needed. Semi-ripe terminal shoot cuttings, 5–8cm long, taken in August in a frame, protected from frost, root in spring. Mature terminal shoot cuttings, 5–10cm long, taken September/October in a cold frame, take 12 months to root. Soft to semi-ripe wood cuttings taken in early summer in a frame are slow but reliable.

Other Uses

The wood is soft, not strong, and resinous; it is used for general construction and is valued in the pulp industry for paper production. This species produces a fine quality timber similar to that of P. likiangensis.

Production

The cones mature in 6 months.

Notes

There are between 30 and 40 species of Picea.

Synonyms

Picea likiangensis (Franchet)E.Pritzel var. purpurea (Masters)Dallimore & A.B.Jakcson

References (5)

Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 1042
Fu Liguo, Li Nan, Mill, R.R., Pinaceae. Flora of China.
Hibbert, M., 2002, The Aussie Plant Finder 2002, Florilegium. p 233
J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 37:418. 1906
Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/