Picea orientalis

Oriental spruce is a member of the pine or Pinaceae family and is native to the Caucasus and adjacent northeast Turkey. It can grow up to 45m tall and generally up to 1.5 m in diameter.

It is a popular ornamental tree in large gardens in northern Europe and North America for its attractive foliage, bright red male cones in spring and ability to grow on a wide range of soils.

• Leaves are needle-like, 6–8 mm long, the shortest of any spruce, and rhombic (sides equal length) in cross-section.
• Cones are pendulous, non-fragmenting, slender cylindric-conic, 5–9 cm long and 1.5 cm broad, red to purple when young, maturing dark brown with rounded scales.
• Bark is smooth, pink-gray in color, separating into small rounded plates on older trees.