Picea meyeri

Scientific name: Picea meyeri Rehder & E.H.Wilson  1914

Synonyms: Picea mongolica (H.Q. Wu) W. D. Xu

Common names: Meyer spruce, Bai qian (Chinese)

Description

Tree to 30 m tall, with trunk to 0.6(-1) m in diameter. Bark grayish brown, becoming more scaly with age. Crown conical, becoming predominantly cylindrical, with long, thin horizontal to gently depressed branches bearing short, droopy side branches. New branchlets pale yellowish brown, variably hairy or not. Buds 6-10 mm long, resinous and slightly hairy. Needles grayish green with wax, (0.8-)1.5-3 cm long, curved forward, square, with four to eight lines of stomates on each side, pointed but not prickly. Pollen cones 20-25 mm long, red. Seed cones 6-9(-12) cm long, green or red before maturity ripening yellowish brown to reddish brown. Seed scales fa-shaped, smooth-edged, narrowly ribbed, woody and stiff. Seed body 3-4 mm long, the wing 7-10 mm longer.

North-central China, in Hebei, Shanxi, and nearby Nei Mongol. Forming pure stands or mixed with other conifers in high montane and subalpine forests on mountain slopes; 1,600-2,700 m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Near Threatened

(Picea meyeri has suffered an estimated decline in area of occupancy of 25-30% within the last 100 years (two generations). It is therefore listed as Near Threatened until the next assessment)

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.