Picea breweriana, Photo: Michael Lahanas
Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Divisio: Tracheophyta
Divisio: Pinophyta
Classis: Pinopsida
Ordo: Pinales
Familia: Pinaceae
Genus: Picea
Species: Picea breweriana
Name
Picea breweriana S.Watson, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 20: 378 (1885).
Synonyms
Homotypic
Pinus breweriana (S.Watson) Voss, Mitt. Deutsch. Dendrol. Ges. 16: 93 (1907).
Heterotypic
Picea pendula S.Watson in S.Watson & al., Bot. California 2: 122 (1880). nom. subnud.
Distribution
Native distribution areas:
Northern America
Northwestern U.S.A.
Oregon.
Southwestern U.S.A.
California.
References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references
Watson, S. 1885. Contributions to American Botany. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 20: 324–378. BHL Reference page.
Additional references
Taylor, R.J. 1993. Picea breweriana. Pp. 373 in Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.), Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 2: Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford, XVI, 475 pp. ISBN 0-19-508242-7. efloras FNA Website Internet Archive, Lending Library Hybrid open access journal Reference page.
Farjon, A. 2001. World Checklist and Bibliography of Conifers. 2. ed., 309 pp. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-025-0 Reference page.
Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. 2 vols., pp. 1–526 + 527–1111, Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, Boston. ISBN 978-90-04-17718-5. Reference page.
Links
Nelson, J. & Farjon, A. 2013. Picea breweriana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013. IUCN Red List Category: Vulnerable . DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T34049A2841277.en.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2023. Picea breweriana in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2023 March 20. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2023. Picea breweriana. Published online. Accessed: March 20 2023.
Hassler, M. 2023. World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. . Picea breweriana. Accessed: 20 March 2023.
Hassler, M. 2023. Picea breweriana. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2023. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2023 March 20. Reference page.
Vernacular names
العربية: تنوب بريوري
čeština: Smrk Brewerův
dansk: Sørgegran
Deutsch: Siskiyou-Fichte
English: Brewer's Spruce
español: Pícea de Brewer
eesti: Breweri kuusk
suomi: Brewerinkuusi
français: Épicéa de Brewer
magyar: Oregoni luc
italiano: Peccio di Brewer
перем коми: Бревер кӧз
lietuvių: Brevero eglė
македонски: Жална смрека
эрзянь: Бреверэнь куз
Nederlands: Brewers treurspar
polski: Świerk Brewera
русский: Ель Бревера
српски / srpski: Жалосна смрча
Türkçe: Brewer ladini
удмурт: Бревер кыз
中文: 布魯爾氏雲杉
Picea breweriana, Photo: Michael Lahanas
Picea breweriana, known as Brewer spruce,[2][3] Brewer's weeping spruce, or weeping spruce, is a species of spruce native to western North America, where it is one of the rarest on the continent. The specific epithet breweriana is in honor of the American botanist William Henry Brewer.[4][5]
Description
Brewer spruce is a large evergreen conifer growing to 20–40 metres (66–131 ft) tall, exceptionally 54 m, and with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m. The bark is thin and scaly, and purple-gray in color. The crown is very distinct, distinguished by level branches with vertically pendulous branchlets up to 1.2–2.4 m (4–8 ft),[6] each branch forming a 'curtain' of foliage. The pendulous foliage only develops when the tree grows to about 1.5–2 m tall; young trees smaller than this (up to about 10–20 years old) are open-crowned with sparse, level branchlets. The shoots are orange-brown, with dense short pubescence about 0.2 millimeters long and very rough with pulvini 1–2 mm long.
The leaves are borne singly on the pulvini, and are needle-like (though not sharp),[6] 15–35 mm long, flattened in cross-section, glossy dark green above, and with two bands of white stomata below.[7][8]
The cones are longer than most other North American spruces, pendulous, cylindrical, 8–15 centimetres (3–6 in) long[6] and 2 cm broad when closed, opening to 3–4 cm broad. They have smoothly rounded, thin, flexible scales 2 cm long. The immature cones are dark purple, maturing red-brown 5–7 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 3–4 mm long, with a slender, 12–18 mm long pale brown wing.[7][8]
Genome
DNA analyses[9][10] have shown that Picea breweriana has a basal position in the Picea clade,[9] suggesting that Picea originated in North America.
Ecology
Picea breweriana grows very slowly, typically less than 20 cm (8 in) per year. It occurs mainly on ridgetop sites with very heavy winter snow to provide a steady source of meltwater through the spring, but dry in the summer. It is very well adapted to cope with heavy snow and ice loads, with tough branches, and the drooping branchlets shedding snow readily.[7][8][11]
Because of its slow growth, Brewer's spruce cannot compete with other much faster-growing trees like Douglas-fir. It is also susceptible to wildfire due to its thin bark and pendulous foliage, and therefore is seen to occur in exposed sites with poor, rocky soils, often at high elevation, where competition with other fire-sustaining conifers is reduced. It may also be found sporadically in open montane forests alongside conifer species adapted to similar conditions such as white fir, red fir, or mountain hemlock. The shrub species huckleberry oak and deer oak are other common associates.[12][13]
The species is known to host several species of pathogens and parasites, including the root rot Heterobasidion annosum, the dwarf-mistletoe Arceuthobium campylopodum, and the adelgid Adelges cooleyi.[12]
Distribution
It is endemic to the Klamath Mountains of southwest Oregon and northwest California, and grows at moderately high altitudes, from 1,000–2,700 m (3,300–8,900 ft) above sea level.[7][8][1][14][15]
Cultivation
Outside its native range, P. breweriana is a highly-valued ornamental tree in gardens, particularly in Great Britain and Scandinavia, where it is appreciated for its dramatically pendulous foliage.[8] This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[16][17]
References
Nelson, J.; Farjon, A. (2013). "Picea breweriana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T34049A2841277. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T34049A2841277.en.
BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
NRCS. "Picea breweriana". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 31 January 2016.
Ornduff, Robert (2008). "Thomas Jefferson Howell and the First Pacific Northwest Flora" (PDF). Kalmiopsis. 15: 32–41. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995). Plants and their names : a concise dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4.
Arno, Stephen F.; Hammerly, Ramona P. (2020) [1977]. Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees (field guide ed.). Seattle: Mountaineers Books. pp. 96–97. ISBN 978-1-68051-329-5. OCLC 1141235469.
Farjon, A. (1990). Pinaceae. Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera. Koeltz Scientific Books ISBN 3-87429-298-3.
Rushforth, K. (1987). Conifers. Helm ISBN 0-7470-2801-X.
Ran, J.-H., Wei, X.-X. & Wang, X.-Q. 2006. Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of Picea (Pinaceae): Implications for phylogeographical studies using cytoplasmic haplotypes. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 41(2): 405–19.
Sigurgeirsson, A. & Szmidt, A.E. 1993. Phylogenetic and biogeographic implications of chloroplast DNA variation in Picea. Nordic Journal of Botany 13(3): 233–246.
Frank Lang's Nature Notes: US Forest Service ecology and the naming
"Picea breweriana Wats". www.srs.fs.usda.gov. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
"Picea breweriana (weeping spruce) description". www.conifers.org. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
Earle, Christopher J., ed. (2018). "Picea breweriana". The Gymnosperm Database.
Thornburgh, Dale (1990). "Picea breweriana". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Conifers. Silvics of North America. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – via Southern Research Station.
"RHS Plant Selector – Picea breweriana". Retrieved 6 February 2021.
"AGM Plants – Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 78. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
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