Virginia Tech Dendrology

Serbian spruce Pinaceae Picea omorika (Pancic) Purk. symbol: PIOM2
Leaf: Evergreen, four-angled needles, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, somewhat flattened, upper side green, lower side with 2 blue-white lines of stomata, shiny and tending to curve upwards and towards tip, tips pointed on young trees but more rounded on older specimens.
Flower: Species is monoecious; males short, cylindrical and reddish; females purplish green, appearing in spring.
Fruit: Small cones, cylindrical, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, scales are lustrous brown, with toothed margin, maturing in fall.
Twig: Slender to medium in size, finely hairy, orange-brown. Needles are borne on woody pegs.
Bark: Thin, dark gray-brown in color, smooth, later flaky or scaly.
Form: Upright tree to 60 feet (maximum 100) with a narrow crown of graceful branches; secondary limbs tend to droop.
Looks like: Norway spruce - Brewer spruce - Oriental spruce - red spruce

Additional Range Information: Picea omorika is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database - Horticulture Information
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information