Picea martinezii

Martinez spruce is a member of the pine or Pinaceae family and is native to northeast Mexico, where it occurs at two localities in the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains. The total indigenous population there is only about 200 trees.

• The crown is conic, with widely spaced branches with drooping branchlets. The shoots are stout, pale buff-brown, glabrous, and with prominent sterigmata (pulvini).
• The leaves are needle-like, 2.3–3.5 cm long, stout, moderately flattened in cross-section, bright glossy green with inconspicuous lines of stomata; the tips are viciously sharp, like the needles of the closely-related P. chihuahuana.
• Cones are pendulous, broad cylindrical, 8–16 cm long and 3 cm broad when closed, opening to 6 cm broad. They have stiff, smoothly rounded scales 2–2.5 cm broad, and are green, maturing pale brown 6–8 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 4 mm long, with a 12–16 mm long pale brown wing.
• Bark is thin and scaly, flaking off in small circular plates 5–10 cm across.
• It is a very attractive tree and is starting to be planted as an ornamental tree in botanical gardens, particularly in warm areas, as it is one of the most heat-tolerant of all spruces.