Pinaceae (pine family) Picea

Picea orientalis Oriental spruce

Asia Minor, Armenia, Caucasus
Picea orientalis at Bing Concert Hall (now removed). Sairus Patel, 14 Mar 2023

Campus’s last survivor for many years stood at the left corner of Bing Concert Hall on Lasuen Street. Clearly declining towards the end, it was finally removed in 2023. Old Union used to have a specimen, along with Norway spruce and Colorado blue spruce; only the latter remains.

Oriental spruce has needles ¼ to ½-inch long, 4-angled, a lustrous dark green, crowded and somewhat appressed to hairy branchlets; new needles are yellowish. Twigs that have lost their needles retain small pegs that are smaller and more slanted than those of Norway spruce. The cones are about 2½ inches long and ¾ inch wide.

Picea orientalis needles, cones, seeds. John Rawlings, ca. 2005

Name derivation: Picea – Latin name for pitch-pine, derived from pix (pitch); orientalis – eastern.

About this Entry: The main text of this entry is from the book Trees of Stanford and Environs, by Ronald Bracewell, published 2005. John Rawlings extended the description of the needles and added the Lasuen location. Entry revised; all locations up to date (Mar 2023, SP). Removal of Bing specimen noted (Feb 2024, SP).