Picea wilsonii

Scientific name: Picea wilsonii  M.T.Masters  1903

Synonyms: Picea fricksii Silba, Picea mastersii Mayr, Picea watsoniana Mast.

Common names: Wilson spruce, Qing qian (Chinese)

Description

Tree to 50 m tall, with trunk to 1.5 m in diameter. Bark dark gray, roughening but remaining scaly with age. Crown conical to cylindrical, with horizontal, spreading branches bearing horizontal or drooping side branches. New branchlets pale yellowish gray, hairless or with a few tiny at first. Buds 6-8 mm long, not resinous. Needles dark green, (0.5-)1-1.5(-2) cm long, curved and angled forward, diamond-shaped and somewhat flattened top to bottom, with two to four lines of stomates on the two outer faces and four or five lines on the inner faces, blunt to prickly. Pollen cones 20-30 mm long, pink. Seed cones 4-8 cm long, green before maturity, ripening light yellowish brown. Seed scales egg-shaped, smooth-edged, thin but woody and a little stiff. Seed body 3-4.5 mm long, the wing 9-11 mm longer.

North-central China from Qinghai and Sichuan to Nei Mongol, Shanxi, and Hubei. Scattered among other spruces and hardwoods in upper montane forest; 1,400-3,000 m.

The species name honors Ernest H. Wilson (1876-1930), who collected seeds of many trees and shrubs in central China, first for the Veitch nursery firm in England and later for the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

(The extent of occurrence  and area of occupancy are relative large, with only a low population decline recorded,  hence this species is listed as Least Concern)

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.

Rootstock: Picea abies