Picea koraiensis

Family and genus: Pinaceae

Alias:

Morphological features: evergreen trees, up to 25 m tall, 50 cm DBH; bark white or grayish white, split into irregular thick oblong pieces; 1-or 2-year-old branches orange-red or yellowish brown, short hairs or glabrous, slightly powdery, old branches grayish; winter buds conical, brown, slightly resinous, bud scales persistent, apex reflexed. Leaves subulate, ±curved, 1-2 cm long and 1.5-2 mm wide, apex acute, cross-sectional rhomboid, with 4-6 stomatal lines on each side. Cones long elliptic-Terete, pendulous, 8-12 cm long, 3-4 cm in diameter, seed scales abaxially green before maturity, upper margin purplish red, brown or light purplish brown when ripe; seed scales Obovate, ca. 2 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, apex rounded or slightly triangular; bract scales short, lanceolate; seed wing apex obtuse, with seeds 1.4-1.6 cm long.

Distribution and habits: at present, white spruce is only found in the vicinity of Kangding in western Sichuan, that is, the area from Yulin Township to Xin Yulin Palace, and the elevation of 2600-3700 meters in the Zaiduoshan, Zhonggu and other places. The average annual temperature of the distribution area is 6-9 ℃, and the annual precipitation is 700-800mm. Although white spruce is a negative tree species, it is a more light-tolerant and drought-tolerant species in spruce genus, which is mostly born on semi-sunny and shady hillsides. The soil is brown soil. Often scattered in western Sichuan spruce Picealikiangensisvar.balfouriana (Rehd.etWils.) HillierexSlavin and AbiessquamataMast. In the woods. The tree can be more than 300 years old. There are few young trees under the canopy, and there are more young trees in the forest edge, large forest gap, burning land and wasteland. Because the young stage is under the miscellaneous shrub, the growth is very slow; after growing out of the shrub, enter the fast-growing period, the annual height growth can reach more than 50 cm. Because of the shallow root tree species, wind inversion and wind break are easy to occur. The flowering period is from April to May and the fruiting period is October.

Reproduction and cultivation: propagate with seeds. The cones mature in October. However, because the cones are prone to rust, the seeds should be carefully selected. The sowing rate is 12.5-15 kg per mu. After the seedlings are unearthed, a shade shed should be built in time, and the roots of the seedlings should be few. After 2 years of cultivation in the original seedbed, the seedlings can be planted in the nursery after changing the bed for 2 years. The afforestation density is 3000-3500 holes per hectare, and the tending and management should be strengthened in time. In order to increase the seed setting rate of mother trees, seed collecting orchards should be established.

Application: it is a rare and precious tree species in China, and it is one of the species with strong differentiation in western Sichuan. It has important scientific research value for the study of the phylogenetic development of spruce and the plant evolution after the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.