(Picea omorica (Pančić) Purk.)
Habitus
- tree is 30 - 50 m high, the crown is narrowly conical up to great age with a long top
- branches are in whorls, short, arcuately bent in the lower part of the crown at an obtuse angle
- the bark is red-brown, gradually turning into gray-brown bork, which bursts in oblong to round plates
- it belongs to the section of Omorica (needles in cross-section are flat)
Leaves (assimilation organs)
- assimilation organs are needle-shaped, 8 - 18 x 1 - 2 mm in size, compressed (flat), blunt to bluntly pointed
- the upper side is dark green shiny
- the lower side is with two distinct light bands of stomata - similar to the white fir (Abies alba)
- needles at the end of the branches point forward
- the twig after the needles fall off, is rough - the remains of the brachyblasts from which the needles grow (the fir twig after the needles fall off is smooth !)
Flowers
- monoecious wood flowers of different sexes, blooms IV – V
- ♂ cones are oblong-ovate, red to purple, grow from buds in the axils of needles from one-year shoots
- ♀ cones are oblong-ovate, purplish-violet, grow on short stalks (5-8 mm) on last year's shoots in the upper part of the crown
Fruits – seeds
- the fruit is a cone, 4 - 6 x 2 - 2.5 cm large, oblong-ovoid, shiny brown when ripe
- the seed scales are rounded (round), slightly serrated along the edge
- ripen VII - IX, on the branches they persist for up to 3 years
- the seed is 2 - 3 mm large, dark brown, the wing is 8 mm long
- the seed is placed loosely (spoon-like) on the wing, similar to the common spruce
Extension
- originally only on the Balkan Peninsula northeast of Sarajevo on limestone rocks in Drina river valley at altitudes from 500 to 1,500 m above the sea level - Tertiary endemic
- in the Tertiary it grew all over the northern hemisphere
- in Slovakia it is only found as a cultivated species in parks and gardens
Ecology
- semi-shade tree, later demands for light increase, undemanding to soil and air humidity
- resistant to exhalation and in Slovak conditions even to low temperatures
Significance
- decorative tree with slender growth and contrasting needles
- often used in urban greenery
