This large spruce is bearing cones in the New Pinetum.
The spruces are an evergreen genus from cold regions of the northern hemisphere, bearing needle-like leaves, male pollen cones, and larger woody, female cones. The oriental spruce (Picea orientalis) forms a narrow pyramid or column to 60m in height. The leaves are a dark glossy green in colour, and bear lines of stomata along the upper and lower surfaces. The pollen cones are approximately 2cm in length, and the pendulous, narrow seed cones have broad, open scales, are red-brown in colour, and reach 10cm in length. A native of the Caucasus and western Asia, P. orientalis grows in mountains up to 2100m above sea level, where it experiences dry summers and wet winters, but it is adaptable in cultivation, growing well at lower altitudes, in milder, wet and dry climates, and in a range of soil types from alkaline to acidic. It is believed that this species was introduced to the British Isles in the 1820’s, where it is known to have been widely grown by the 1850’s.