Coniferous spruce tree - description. Healing properties of spruce Detailed description of spruce ordinary pedal

Description

Norway spruce (Picea abies)- tree 30 - 35 m high, crown diameter 6 - 8 m. In favorable conditions, it can grow up to 50 m. The needles are needle-shaped, tetrahedral, 1-2 cm long, dark green. Annual growth 50 cm high, 15 cm wide. Up to 10-15 years it grows slowly, then quickly. At Norway spruce the crown is cone-shaped, with spaced or drooping, rising branches at the end, remains sharp until the end of life. The bark is reddish-brown or grey, smooth or fissured, varying degrees and nature of fracturing, relatively thin. Shoots are light brown or rusty yellow, glabrous. Sensitive to pollution and dry air. Tolerates shade well. Durability 250 - 300 years.

The size:	height 15-20 m, diameter 6-8 m.
Root system:	superficial, widely procumbent, strongly branched; deep on drained soil.
Growth rate:	up to 10-15 years is low, then it accelerates to 70 cm per year, after 100-120 years the growth slows down again.
Light:	sun, partial shade, shade.
Soils:	moderately moist loams, light soils with a slightly alkaline reaction of the environment (see).
Watering:	during dry periods, watering is required.
Winter hardiness:	USDA zone 3 (see).
Fruit:	cones 10-15 cm long and 3-4 cm thick, light green, brownish-brown when mature.

Planting and caring for spruce ordinary

Soil compaction and moisture stagnation should not be allowed. The landing site should be away from ground water. It is imperative to make a drainage layer, in the form of sand or broken brick 15-20 cm thick. If fir trees are planted in groups, then the distance for tall fir trees should be from 2 to 3 m. Depth landing pit 50-70cm.

It is important that the root neck is at ground level. You can prepare a special soil mixture: sheet and sod land, peat, and sand in a ratio of 2:2:1:1. Immediately after planting, the tree must be watered abundantly with 40 - 50 liters of water. It is advisable to apply fertilizer (100-150 g of nitroammophoska, root 10 g per 10 l, etc.).

Spruces do not like dry hot weather, so during the hot season they need to be watered once a week, about 10-12 liters per tree. Carry out shallow loosening (5 cm). For the winter, sprinkle peat around the trunk with a thickness of 5-6 cm; after winter, the peat is simply mixed with the ground, not removed. Spruces can be planted in winter.

Approximately 2 times a season, fertilizer for coniferous plants can be applied.

Usually spruces do not need pruning, but if they form hedge pruning is allowed. As a rule, diseased and dry branches are removed. It is best to prune in late May - early June, when the period of active sap flow ends.

To protect decorative forms fir trees from autumn and winter frosts, they can be covered with spruce branches. (cm. , ).

Most owners of their own plots would be happy to plant a spruce on it. This tree is not only evergreen, but is also considered very characteristic of the Russian landscape and for decorating a piece of land in landscape style fits just perfect. But not every site area allows you to do this.

What tree to plant in the country

Spruce belongs to the pine family - a large tree, a narrow crown, a straight trunk. Breeders have bred many varieties with different needle colors, different shapes and heights, so that when performing landscape composition you can choose from a large number options. How many centimeters a tree grows per year depends both on the conditions of the area and on the variety chosen.

When developing a composition, one must take into account that the planted Christmas tree will not remain as small and beautiful for long. In a few years, it will take up much more space than at first.

If you wish to ennoble the site with an evergreen tree, it should not be dug out in the nearest forest. Firstly, it is illegal, and secondly, a wild-growing tree will lead to the fact that in a few years, not a beautiful furry Christmas tree will grow on your site, but an uncomfortable sprawling monster, in which the lower part of the trunk will be bare.

A great alternative is to choose something from the ennobled varieties that the breeders have worked on. It can be a Canadian tree, a prickly spruce, or a blue, Serbian spruce. These varieties are well suited to life in the climate of the middle lane and are quite good looking.

How fast do trees grow

Young spruces grow slowly. At first, they will only be able to stretch a few centimeters a year. Later, when the plant has already taken root well, if the soil is suitable for it and there is enough light, the tree will begin to grow faster - the growth is from 8 to 50 cm per year. Of course, these are average figures. Dwarf varieties, for example, grow more slowly.

In order to gain a length of one meter, the tree will take about seven years. This means that the tree will grow "from scratch". If you do not go to extremes and purchase an ordinary seedling about one and a half meters for planting, an excellent tree with a good height will grow in about 10-12 years.

If the site is small, it is better to choose a dwarf spruce for it. As a rule, such species have a beautiful crown shape and look very good in small areas. They grow about 3-5 cm per year.

In order to gain growth, decorative dwarf spruce will take more time.

During the period when the plant is just taking root on the site, it needs careful care. It is necessary to carry out feeding, watering, especially if climatic conditions different from ideal or there was a dry summer. AT spring period Some varieties require sun protection.

Planting a Christmas tree near the house is a great idea. An evergreen tree will please the eye all year round. On the new year holidays it can be decorated, led round dances around the spruce. But what to do to make the spruce take root? It is better to plant a Christmas tree in winter.

Instruction

Choose a suitable tree in the forest. It should not be too large, because the young take root better. When it freezes up to 30 cm, carefully dig out the Christmas tree. Must not be damaged. To do this, you must first dig around the groove and select a lump near the roots. The lump should freeze, then it can be cut from below with a steel cable and the spruce can be removed. When you transport the Christmas tree, cover it with burlap.

Prepare a suitable hole for spruce. It should be spacious enough so that the roots of the tree are not cramped. Prepare also thawed for backfilling the pit. To do this, store the earth in a warm room for several days. Immerse the tree in a hole, cover it with earth. insulate root collar ate and the space around with peat and snow. The layer should be approximately 10 cm thick.

Wait until spring, when the snow melts, remove the peat from the root neck. Then form a small depression around the Christmas tree for watering and water the tree. Growth stimulants can be added to the water. The spruce trunk can be strengthened with stretch marks. Cover the space around the trunk with mulch so that water evaporates less and weeds do not grow.

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Helpful advice

Water a Christmas tree planted in winter up to 12 times per season. Watering should be plentiful.

Spruce, pine, fir and other conifers paint any area. You can plant just a whole tree and enjoy the evergreen beauty both in summer and on New Year's holidays, or you can make a natural green fence out of a row of fir trees instead of unattractive fence boards or trellises. However, conifers are not the most unpretentious plants, so you need to know a number of rules when planting them.

Instruction

Spruce, like all conifers, needs to be replanted, keeping a fairly large clod of earth around the roots. Do not allow the roots to become exposed and dry, even for a short time.

If you are buying spruce, pay attention to the root system, the roots should not be cut too short. For example, for a spruce 2 m high, it is necessary to keep the roots about 80 cm long.

If you are already planting large tree, more than two meters, then it with a frozen clod of earth. All spruces are frost-resistant, and spruce in winter allows you to better preserve the root system of the tree during transportation. The air temperature should not be lower than -15 degrees.

When choosing a place to plant, keep in mind that later, next to the spruce, something other than heather is unlikely to grow. Firstly, coniferous plants do not tolerate neighbors, and secondly, the shadow from wide branches will not allow other plantings to develop.

Fill the planting with a mixture of earth and peat, gradually tamping. After that, water very abundantly and for the first two to three weeks, keep the soil constantly moist.

feed the fir trees mineral fertilizers in April-May, before the start of growth.

If you want to grow a Christmas tree from a seed, buy special earth for coniferous plants or make your own from a ratio of 2 parts of humus, 1 part of sand. Under the soil there should be a layer of drainage. Plant a seed no deeper than 1 cm, water through the pan.

Sources:

evergreen beauties

Spruces planted along the road or the border of the site look very neat, close the house from prying eyes in winter and summer, significantly improve and ozonize the air. Despite the high prevalence of this tree, it takes root rather poorly during transplantation, therefore, in order to plant a spruce, it is very important to follow some rules.

You will need

- spruce seedling or seeds;
- Earth;
- pot;
- shovel;
- water for irrigation.

Instruction

If you eat, take them out of the cone and soak for a few days in warm water. Then prepare the pot, drainage, fill the soil for conifers. Make the soil yourself (for this, take 2 parts of humus and 1 part of sand) or buy it in a store. The best option is to dig up land under the trees in the forest. Plant at a depth of about 1 cm, a deeper one will not allow them to hatch. Put in a dark cool place, carefully water through the pan.

Start planting a tree on the second. If you decide to take a spruce from the forest, choose a young tree and dig it with a very big ball earth. When buying a seedling, pay attention to the size of the root system - the cheerful top with cut roots will almost certainly die. For example, a spruce tree 2 meters high should have a root ball of at least 80 cm, with the top 20 cm remaining with the grass. To plant imported spruce, choose strong seedlings with a packed root system, while considering which country they were brought from. Ate from countries with a mild climate, the first years should be sheltered from frost.

Start planting from the end of April to the beginning of May or in mid-August - mid-September, when the first frosts begin. Dig a hole 20-30 cm deeper and 15-20 cm wider than the earthen clod. Loosen the bottom to a depth of at least 10 cm; if the place is damp, make drainage with a layer of 5-7 cm of broken bricks.

Lower the root ball into the hole. Please note that for conifers it is very important to preserve the earthy clod around the roots, since symbiote fungi live on the roots, helping to absorb nutrients from the soil. Exposed roots are like an open wound for spruce, and the longer they are open, the less likely the tree will take root.

Picea abies
Taxon: Pine family ( Pinaceae).
Other names: European spruce
English: Norway Spruce, Christmas Tree

Description

Spruce- an elegant, slender evergreen tree up to 30-50 m high of the pine family. The crown of the tree has the shape of a regular narrow cone and descends almost to the ground. The top of the spruce is always sharp, it never dulls. A tall and slender spruce grows only when the topmost bud of the tree blooms normally every year and gives rise to a new shoot. If the apical bud of a young spruce was damaged or the shoot on which it is located was cut off, - appearance tree changes dramatically. The growth of the main trunk stops, the lateral branches closest to the top gradually rise up. As a result, instead of a tall and slender tree, a low and ugly tree is obtained. The trunk of a spruce is covered with flaky brownish-gray bark. The branches are arranged in whorls. The needles are needle-shaped, flattened-tetrahedral, dark green, shiny, 2-3 cm long, kept on branches for 6-12 years. Spruce needles are much shorter than those of pine. The life span of spruce needles is longer than that of pine needles. In spring, spruce, like pine, has male and female cones on its branches. This happens around the time when the bird cherry blossoms. Spruce- the plant is monoecious, male spikelets are located in the lower part of the shoots in the axils of the needles. Female cones are elongated-cylindrical, young ones are bright red, late ones are green, in a mature state they are brown, up to 15 cm long. Pollen resembling a fine yellow powder ripens in male spikelets-knobs. Spruce dusts very plentifully. Pollen is carried by the wind far around, settles on various subjects. It is noticeable even on the leaves of forest grasses. Spruce cones, ripening in the first year, are formed by spirally arranged covering scales, in the axils of which there are two ovules, from which seeds develop after fertilization. Seeds are dark brown with wings, similar to pine seeds. Having fallen out of the cone, they circle in the same way in the air like a propeller. Their rotation is very fast, and the fall from this is slow. The seeds picked up by the wind can fly away from the mother tree quite far to the side. Seed dispersal occurs at the end of winter, on dry sunny days.
Unlike pine, spruce is shade-tolerant. Its lower branches do not die off and are preserved, therefore it is dark and damp in spruce forests. spruce root system much smaller than that of pine, and located in top layer soil, so the tree is unstable and often strong winds knock him to the ground.
Spruce grows well under the canopy of pine, birch, oak. She, like other shade-tolerant trees, has a dense, dense crown that transmits little light.
One of the features of spruce is its sensitivity to late spring frosts. The return of cold weather in the spring destroys its young, just appeared, not yet strengthened shoots. Frost-damaged young Christmas trees can sometimes be seen at the beginning of summer somewhere on open space(in a clearing, in a large clearing in the middle of a forest, etc.). Their part of the needles is green, old, and the young shoots are dried, brown, as if set on fire.
In spruce, as in pine, annual rings of wood are clearly distinguished on the transverse section of the trunk. Some annual rings are wider, others are narrower. The width of the growth ring to a large extent depends on the environmental conditions in which the tree grows (temperature, humidity, light, availability nutrients etc.). How better conditions, the wider the ring. In years with especially favorable weather conditions for the tree, the rings are especially wide. Since spruce creates very strong shading, only enough trees can exist under its canopy. shade tolerant plants. There are usually few shrubs in a spruce forest, on the ground there is a solid green carpet of mosses, against which a few taiga grasses and dense thickets of blueberries grow (this type of forest is called blueberry spruce forest). Where the soil is better supplied with nutrients and sufficiently drained, as a rule, a continuous cover of oxalis develops - a small herbaceous plant with trifoliate, like clover, leaves (this type of forest is called the oxalis spruce forest). On soils, especially poor and very damp ones, under the fir trees there is a continuous rather thick carpet of cuckoo flax moss (the name of such a forest is long-moss spruce forest).
In the spruce forest, as a result of strong shading, shoots of almost all tree species quickly die. However, the undergrowth of spruce itself is preserved for a very long time under these conditions. However, he has a very depressed look. The trees are smaller than a person, similar in shape to an umbrella, their crown seems to be flattened, very loose. Living branches are very thin, with rare short needles, the stem is like a ski pole. If you cut off such a stem in the lower part with a sharp knife, then on the cross section you can see unusually narrow growth rings, almost indistinguishable with the naked eye. They can only be seen with a strong magnifying glass. The reason for this is the fact that in deep shade, the tree produces almost no organic matter, and therefore cannot produce much wood.
Sprouts of spruce - almost the same as those of pine. They are quite rare in the forest. This is explained by the fact that a thin, weak root of a germinating seed is often unable to “break through” a powerful layer of dry, fallen needles. But there are many shoots where this obstacle is not present - on rotten tree trunks lying on the ground, on rotten stumps, on recently exposed areas of soil, etc.

Spreading

The area of natural distribution of Norway spruce in our country is almost the entire northern half of the European part. In the northernmost regions of this territory, as well as in the Urals and Siberia, a closely related species grows - Siberian spruce (Picca obovata). Spruce occupies 10% of the forest area, forming spruce forests, is part of mixed, one of the most common tree species. In the European part of the country, spruce does not spread far to the south, as it is quite moisture-loving. East of the Urals, it is replaced by a close species - Siberian spruce, in the Caucasus - eastern spruce.

cultivation

Spruce is propagated by seeds. This tree cannot grow in too dry climates. Does not tolerate spruce and dry soil. In this respect, it is much more whimsical than pine, which grows well on very dry sands. Spruce is more demanding than pine in terms of soil fertility. It does not grow in extremely nutrient-poor upland (sphagnum) bogs.

Collection and preparation

Needles, immature cones, young tops of spruce branches are used as medicinal raw materials. Cones are harvested in the summer before the seeds ripen, dried on racks under a canopy.

Chemical composition

Cones contain essential oils, resins, tannins, phytoncides, minerals. Spruce needles contain ascorbic acid (200-400 mg /%) and the same substances as cones.

The use of spruce in medicine

A decoction and infusion of cones are used for diseases of the upper respiratory tract and bronchial asthma, needles as an antiscurvy agent, especially in winter time. The needles also have a diuretic, antimicrobial effect. It is recommended for diseases of the kidneys and Bladder. AT traditional medicine A decoction of kidneys and young cones is used in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, scurvy, dropsy, and inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system.

Medications

Infusion of spruce needles: 20-25 g of crushed needles are brewed with boiling water (1:5), boiled for 10 minutes, then infused for 10 minutes, this dose is taken during the day. This infusion is drunk against scurvy and respiratory diseases.
A decoction of spruce cones. The cones are crushed, poured with water (1: 5), boiled for half an hour, the resulting broth is gargled, dripped into the nose. Bath infusion. Paws are boiled with salt, the resulting broth is added to baths for pain in the joints various origins.
The spruce forest is clean, but it has a depressing effect on a person who communicates little with it, although spruce is a donor tree, not a vampire, but when there are many donors nearby, they act badly on each other.

Household use

Spruce is widely used in national economy. Its wood is used in large quantities, for example, for the manufacture of paper. Pulp, artificial silk and much more are produced from spruce wood; it is widely used in construction. Spruce wood is an indispensable material for the manufacture of some musical instruments(from it, for example, the upper decks of violins are made, etc.).
Spruce is also an important supplier of tannins, which are essential for leather dressing. These substances in our country are obtained mainly from spruce bark. Our other plants are much less important as sources of tannins (the bark of oak, willow, larch, the rhizome of the herbaceous bergenia plant, etc. are used).

A bit of history

El is not only Christmas tree. It is constantly used, seeing off a person on his last journey. Spruce branches are placed under the coffin, wreaths are made from spruce branches. This tree is both festive and mournful. Pine needle phytoncides disinfect the room, expel " evil spirit". It is believed that when the body is taken out with the help of spruce branches, all the bad things that sent a person on his last journey are removed from the house, spruce alleviates the suffering of his soul, which has not yet had time to completely part with the body - this will take 40 days. Spruce branches lying on the grave contribute to the relief of the soul of the deceased.
Sometimes healers and witches, reading conspiracies, as if to strengthen, enhance the action, burn a small sprig of spruce in an iron bowl and see how the ashes are located, in what form - budding or not.

Photos and illustrations

Norway spruce, or European- Picea abies (L.) Karst. - a well-known evergreen coniferous tree from the pine family (Pinaceae) with a height of 20-30 (up to 40, and in Western Europe even up to 50) m with a pyramidal crown. Growth in height does not stop almost all life, and even old trees retain a pointed conical shape. The trunk is slightly tapered, that is, it gradually decreases in diameter from the base to the top. Very large individuals have thick trunks up to 1 m in diameter at the base. The bark of the branches is red-brown, smooth, brownish-gray on the trunks, with an uneven surface, flaking small areas. The branches are arranged in regular whorls, each year a new whorl is noted, which makes it easy to determine the age of the tree by their number.
Young branches are densely covered with leaves. The leaves are solitary, hard, needle-like, up to 2-2.5 cm long and 1-1.5 mm thick, dark green, shiny, tetrahedral, pointed at the end, therefore prickly. Such leaves are called needles. Each needle lives and stays on the branches for 6-7 (sometimes 12) years, however, in urban plantations, the life of the needles is shorter.
Spruce does not have a pronounced leaf fall: the needles fall off gradually, and a new one does not grow at the same time.
Plants are monoecious: both male and female generative organs, collected in spikelets, develop on one individual. Spruce, like all other gymnosperms, does not have flowers and real fruits. In the lower part of the shoot are male spikelets, in the upper - female, larger in size, reddish-brown in color. Male spikelets are elongated-cylindrical, have the form of reddish-yellow cones 2-2.5 cm long, surrounded by light green scales at the base. Pollen disperses in May-June, after which the male spikelets fall off. Pollination is carried out by the wind. Each speck of dust is equipped with two appendages - air sacs, this provides it with exceptional volatility. Observations have shown that the spread of pollen from a spruce tree can reach 8-10 km.
Fertilized ovules develop into seeds, and the entire female spike during the summer and autumn is transformed into a kind of organ - a cone, consisting of an axis and attached to it woody light brown scales, seeds are placed in their axils. The cones are hanging, cylindrical, smoothly rounded at both ends, 10-16 cm long and 3-4 cm in diameter. At first they are red, then turn green, and when they become mature, turn brown. A good-sized cone can develop up to 200 seeds. The seeds are dark brown, egg-shaped, small - in 1 kg there are 105-110 thousand spruce seeds.
Spruce seeds ripen in September-October, they spill out of the cones only in winter and early spring, but the opened cones themselves continue to hang on the tree for quite a long time. They fall whole, covering the soil in places with a continuous cover, and do not collapse for a long time. Each seed is equipped with a light brown winglet that promotes seed dispersal by the wind. In the second half of winter, snow is often covered with an ice crust (infusion). So, the wind often drives the seeds of spruce along the crust for a considerable distance.
Spruce reproduces by seed. Experts have calculated that in good years there can be up to 5 million seeds per 1 hectare of spruce forest. Of course, not all germinate and, moreover, not at the same time. Seeds remain viable for up to 10 years. Seedlings bring to the surface 8-9 (from 5 to 10) cotyledons, which remain green for 2-3 years, although real leaves-needles appear in the very first years. During the first year of life, seedlings reach only 4-5 cm in height. And in subsequent years, the seedling does not differ in rapid growth - by the age of 10, the Christmas tree grows by 1-2 m. Only from 15-20 years old spruce growth accelerates, it gives the largest increase (up to 70 cm per year) at the age of 35-65 years. Unlike many tree species, spruce continues to grow in height until the end of its life.
The first cones (and seeds) appear in young firs at the age of 15 if they grow in lighted places. In the forest, at the time of seed production, spruce enters only at 25-30 years, and in dense plantations even later - at 50-70 years. It is curious that trees that are just starting to produce seeds develop only female spikelets in the first years. Seed years repeat in 3-7 years. The total lifespan of spruce trees is from 200 to 400 years, but individual trees reach an age of 600 and even 800 years.

Spruce is common throughout the forest zone of Europe, including European Russia, forming pure and mixed forests. The southern border of the spruce forests generally coincides with the northern border of the chernozem. This does not mean at all that it cannot grow on black soil - in plantings it grows beautifully throughout the Russian Chernozem region.
In the Cis-Urals, European spruce is gradually being replaced by a closely related species - Siberian spruce (Picea obovafa Ledeb.J, which is distinguished by smaller cones with wide whole-cut scales. The range of Siberian spruce extends from the northernmost latitudes of Scandinavia to the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. In the sector between the White Sea and the Urals, it forms the northern border of the forest and is an important forest-forming species in the Ural and Siberian taiga. total about 25% of the total forest area in our country is occupied by spruce plantations.
Spruce is widely bred in urban plantations, while, along with domestic species, some foreign forms are also cultivated, which are particularly decorative, for example blue firs North American origin. Norway spruce is widely grown in roadside plantations, in particular, it is planted railways which protects them from snow drifts.
Norway spruce is a shade-tolerant and frost-resistant breed that avoids habitats with stagnant moisture. AT adverse conditions, for example, on the northern border of the forest, forms a dwarf form. Its root system is superficial, lies mainly in the layer of soil and soil to a depth of 0.8-1 m, so the spruce weakly resists the windblow. It suffers greatly from forest fires, even grassroots ones, since its bark is quite thin and the cambium tissues quickly die from overheating. It does not tolerate high temperatures and especially dry air.
Spruce captures new territory only with the help of small-leaved tree species, most often birch. A birch grows in a free area, and already in this new birch forest spruce seeds that have flown here germinate. Spruce seedlings feel good under the birch canopy (in open areas they die from various reasons, including strong light and dry air that they cannot tolerate). Young Christmas trees gradually outgrow the birch in height and instead of gratitude for good conditions"Children's and youthful" life is strangled by a birch forest, creating unbearable lighting conditions with its dense crowns.

Economic use of spruce

Spruce wood is the main raw material for the manufacture of paper and cardboard. Until recently, 70% of the world's paper production came from spruce raw materials. Spruce wood is widely used in construction (“spruce hut and the heart is healthy”), in carpentry, in particular in the manufacture of furniture. Telegraph poles and railway sleepers are made from it. Spruce wood is indispensable for the manufacture of some musical instruments, such as violins. For this purpose, most often trees are chosen that have dried up on the vine and have stood dry for several years. Trees whose wood is suitable for making stringed instruments are called resonant spruce. ,
Spruce wood waste, which is not needed by woodworking industry: sawdust, wood chips, trimmings, shavings, etc., are raw materials for chemists. From this seemingly garbage, ethyl alcohol is obtained by hydrolysis, which is consumed in many industries, as well as valuable construction material- plasticizer. Dry distillation of non-commercial spruce wood produces acetic acid and methyl alcohol - intermediate products many valuable chemical compounds.
The spruce bark contains a lot of tannins used in the leather industry. Turpentine and rosin are obtained from resin-resin, obtained by cutting the bark of spruce trees. And these products, as you know, are in great demand in various sectors of the economy, culture and medicine.
Unfortunately, spruce medicinal plant is clearly underused. Scientists have calculated how unacceptably we scatter the so-called gifts of nature. Their calculations are so impressive that I want to quote them in full, although they seem to be boring and designed for specialists.
In our country, up to 200 million m3 of commercial spruce timber were harvested annually (almost 100% of spruce harvesting was carried out in Russia, so everything said here refers not so much to the USSR, but to Russia). For each cubic meter of wood there are up to 500 kg of waste, the main part of them (up to 250 kg) is tree greens (coniferous branches), which can serve as a raw material for many useful products, including vitamins and medicines.

Judge for yourself. Spruce needles contain: chlorophyll, salts of potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon; trace elements: Al, Ti, Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, Ag, Pb, S, B. 19 amino acids have been isolated from spruce needles, incl. lysine, arginine, glycine, threonine, valine, leucine, alanine, aspartic and glutamic acids. The total content of amino acids is 0.7-4.9% by weight of dry needles.
Spruce needles - a concentrate of vitamins. Dry needles contain: carotene (provitamin A), tocopherol (vitamin E), phylloquinone (vitamin K), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), flavonoids with P-vitamin activity, thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), pantothenic acid (vitamin B3), nicotinic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), biotin (vitamin B7), folic acid(vitamin B9).
And all this wealth is practically not used.
It is impossible not to mention the custom of meeting New Year with a Christmas tree. The custom is certainly good, but at the same time it bears great losses for our forests.
Spruce seeds are an important winter food for squirrels and granivorous birds wintering in Russia, such as crossbills, which even hatch chicks in winter.

Medicinal value of spruce and methods of therapeutic use

Medicinal use in spruce has coniferous twigs (“legs”), which can be collected throughout the year (while trying not to damage the branches of the tree). They include essential oil, trace elements (iron, manganese, chromium, aluminum, copper), stilbene, caffeic acid. It is believed that the presence of stilbene makes it promising to study needle extracts as sources of contraceptives.
Spruce needles contain a significant amount ascorbic acid. As it turned out, it contains 6 times more vitamin C than lemon and orange, and 25 times more than onions and potatoes. Its highest concentration is in winter and early spring. The people have long used the paws of spruce (as well as other conifers) to obtain a drink saturated with vitamin C. This drink is treated for scurvy, they drink it to prevent beriberi, especially at the end of winter and early spring, when there is no other vitamin-containing greens yet. In 40 g of needles for 1 cup of boiling water, boil for 20 minutes. and insist. The resulting infusion is drunk in 2-3 doses during the day.
In the midst of an influenza epidemic, it is useful to burn small pieces of spruce resin several times a day in the room where the flu patient lies. The persistent resinous smell that accompanies this procedure pleasantly aromatizes the room. The resin itself and the products of its combustion have a therapeutic effect on the patient and disinfect the air.
Spruce is the oldest medicinal tree in the Russian forest. More primitive people used it for treatment. The air in the spruce forest is practically sterile. Fans of walks in the spruce forest have probably noticed how the feeling of depression and helplessness that arises at the sight of dark green giants, under whose crowns nothing grows, is replaced by confidence in own forces and peace of mind. Walking in the green forest is very beneficial for health.
For sore throats, colds, acute and chronic diseases respiratory organs (tonsillitis, tracheitis, bronchial asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis, tonsillitis) use an infusion of needles. Gargle with a decoction and instill into the nose (with vasomotor rhinitis), 4-5 drops in both nostrils. The temperature of the decoction is 35 °C.
Folk remedy for cough, flu, pharyngitis, laryngitis, bronchitis - syrup from honey and spruce buds. Spruce or fir buds are harvested at the end of May, when they grow 3-5 cm, washed in cold water, finely chopped. % For 1 kg of kidneys - 3-4 liters of water. Boil in enamelware 10-15 min., strain, let stand and strain again through cheesecloth. For 1 kg of the resulting broth, add 1 kg of honey and propolis extract (extract: 30 g of propolis per 100 ml of alcohol), mix well and heat to 40-45 ° C. After cooling, pour into bottles, store them closed in a cool place. Take 1 teaspoon before meals 3 times a day.

Make a mixture of spruce resin and yellow wax (one part by weight of each component). Melt the mixture, cool. Put the pieces of the mixture on hot coals, breathe in the emitted smoke with persistent chronic cough, chronic bronchitis.

At the same time, you can take a decoction of spruce shoots in milk inside. 30 g of shoots or young cones pour 1 liter of milk and cook in a sealed container for 30 minutes. Strain and take during the day in small portions. This decoction is also recommended for the treatment of inflammatory processes of the respiratory system, with dropsy and scurvy.

Green spruce cones are poured with water in a ratio of 1:5 and boiled for 30 minutes. Gargle with the resulting decoction, drip into the nose.
In nephrolithiasis and renal colic, pinabine is used, which is a mixture of essential oil from spruce (or pine) needles and peach oil (in equal parts). It has an antispasmodic effect on the muscles of the urinary tract and inhibits the development of pathogenic bacteria in them.
Take 5-20 drops on sugar 2 times a day before meals for 4-5 weeks.

You can take pinabine only as directed by a doctor, as there are contraindications for it.

For the treatment of pustules, wounds and ulcers, various ointments are used. The simplest of them is an ointment made from spruce resin, melted with lard.
Softwood resin - 100g, unsalted pork fat - 100g, natural beeswax - 100g. Put everything in a saucepan. If the resin is dry, grind into powder. Boil on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring the composition all the time, removing foam from the surface. Remove from fire. When the mixture is warm, transfer it to glass jar. Store the ointment in the refrigerator.
Rinse the wound with lime water (1 tablespoon of quicklime per 1 liter of water; let it brew for 5-6 hours, drain the water). thin layer Spread a cloth with the prepared mixture, put on a sore spot and bandage. Change the bandage after 1-2 days. Wounds heal quickly.
Make a mixture of spruce resin, wax, honey and sunflower oil (one part by weight of each component). Heat the mixture on fire, cool. Use externally for abrasions, abscesses, ulcers.
Mix equal amounts of spruce resin, wax and butter. A good effect is given by such an ointment for boils.

In the forest, on a hike, one of the excellent remedies for wounds and cuts is fresh gum resin. Lubricate daily wounds, ulcers, cracks. Healing comes quickly.
For skin diseases, gout, joint damage of rheumatic origin, baths are taken from spruce branches and buds.
For this, a decoction is prepared from the tops of young branches with buds (the ratio of vegetable raw materials and water is 1: 5, boiled for 30-40 minutes). The resulting broth is added to the bath.

Spruce cones are boiled with salt (100 g of salt per 1 bucket of broth). The resulting decoction is added to baths for pain in the joints of various origins and arthritis. Instead of cones, you can use freshly cut branches.
Tibetan medicine appreciates needles as a remedy for burns and wounds that do not heal for a long time, tree sap - for diarrhea, and wood ash - as an antidote.
With tuberculosis, it is good to use tincture of young shoots on vodka.
The combined preparation of spruce, fir and pine needles has a sedative effect and increases efficiency.

Pour winter trimmed needles (4 cups) with 3 cups of cooled boiled water, acidify with 2 teaspoons of diluted hydrochloric acid. Infuse for 3 days in a dark place, strain. Drink vitamin infusion 1/2 cup 2 times a day, sweetened to taste.
Jam is made from pine needles with sugar and they drink tea with it for shortness of breath.
Spruce resin-gum - 20g, mashed (crushed) onion - 1 piece, vegetable oil, olive oil is better - 50 g, copper sulfate in powder - 15 g. Everything is thoroughly rubbed and heated over a fire, not boiling.
The ointment has a burning effect, actively treats abscesses, bruises and bone fractures.

If pus flows from the ear, it is recommended to put spruce or pine juice into it.
Five tablespoons of spruce, pine or fir needles pour 0.5 liters of water, boil for 5 minutes. and keep the night warm. Such an infusion promotes the removal of radionuclides. Give the sick to drink during the day instead of water. Day break, then treatment again. You can alternate drinking ordinary water and coniferous broth for a month (instead of ordinary water, it is better to use melted water).
Spruce young shoots fill the pan, pour cold water, put on fire, bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes. Insist in the warmth of the night, strain in the morning. Store the drink in the refrigerator, but drink it warm, 0.5 cups several times a day.
Brew spruce branches collected in September with boiling water: 1 tablespoon of chopped branches per 1 cup of boiling water. Drink a decoction instead of tea, 0.5 cups a day for uterine polyps.
According to Raphael, spruce is ruled by Saturn and is healing for those born under the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius.

(Picea abies Karst.)

European spruce or common spruce - an ordinary miracle!

Spruce (Picea) is a genus of coniferous evergreen trees of the pine family. Spruce is one of the main forest-forming species in our country and one of the most powerful trees. In Russia, European or common spruce grows in the northern and middle zones of the European part of the country, in the south to the central black earth zone of the forest-steppe, in the east it reaches the Urals; Siberian spruce is common in the Urals and Siberia. Spruce grows in wet places, on rich loamy soils, in parks.

Spruce growth does not stop throughout the life of a tree, and by the age of 150-200 it can reach a height of 50 meters and a trunk diameter of 80-100 cm. In total, about 40 species of spruce are known, all of which grow in the Northern Hemisphere. Spruce is frost-resistant, withstands winter up to -52 ° C, although young Christmas trees

do not tolerate spring and autumn frosts, young branches can freeze slightly.

We celebrate the best holiday of the year with a Christmas tree or spruce branches, bringing a fresh smell of pine needles and a feeling of freshness into our home. Spruce is a coniferous tree with a cone-shaped crown, pointed, flattened-tetrahedral needles, male and female cones, dark brown seeds with long wings. Seeds remain viable for 8-10 years.

Spruce, like other representatives of the pine family, releases a huge amount of phytoncides that kill any harmful microflora in the air. In a spruce forest, there is always clean, fresh, almost sterile air - therefore, many sanatoriums try to locate in coniferous forests so that a person's round-the-clock stay there has its healing effect.

The scientific name of the genus picea is from Latin word pix - "resin", which is abundantly secreted by all plants of the pine family. The scientific name of the species is abies, which translates from Latin as "spruce". Russian name genus "spruce" - is of Indo-European origin.

Since ancient times, spruce has been used by the people for the treatment of various diseases. With therapeutic purpose spruce needles, young shoots, young cones are used as medicinal raw materials. They contain tannins, vitamin C, carotene, essential oil, resin, mineral salts of iron, chromium, copper, aluminum, manganese.

Spruce preparations have diuretic, diaphoretic, choleretic, antiscorbutic, analgesic, wound healing effects. For the preparation of preparations, they take fresh or outdoor needles, since when the needles were eaten in heat, the content of vitamin C in it quickly drops. Spruce branches can be stored in the room for no more than 10 days, lowering the lower ends into the water.

Spruce useful properties. Useful properties of needles

Spruce needle oil, added to water for inhalation, miraculously relieves cough, facilitates the separation of sputum, treats purulent otitis media and tonsillitis. The infusion of young needles has the same effect, which, in addition to its bactericidal action, is a source of vitamins.

With a lack of vitamin C - beriberi, as an antiscorbutic agent,

in acute and chronic respiratory diseases - tonsillitis, bronchitis, tracheitis, bronchial asthma:
- 40 g of chopped spruce needles pour a glass of boiling water, boil for 20 minutes, insist, then strain. The resulting infusion is drunk during the day for 1 / 3 ÷ 1 / 2 cups.

This infusion of spruce needles is very useful after serious illnesses, with dry and cracking skin. Infusion of needles has a diuretic and antimicrobial effect, as it contains essential oil, beneficial features needles are used for treatment of diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract .

It is also possible prepare a vitamin infusion from fresh needles:

- 4 cups of spruce needles pour 0.5 l cold water, add citric acid, insist 2 - 3 days in a dark place, strain. Drink 1 glass a day for 2 - 3 doses with beriberi.

Spruce cones medicinal properties . A decoction of immature spruce cones (harvested in June-September) is used to prevent infectious diseases.

With angina, tonsillitis, laryngitis, sinusitis, rhinitis:

- Pour 50 g of crushed cones with a glass of water, boil for 30 minutes on low heat, then strain. Apply 5-6 times a day as a rinse or instill a few drops in both nostrils.

For the treatment of rheumatism, nervous and skin diseases it is good to use coniferous baths.

For skin diseases, gout and joint damage in rheumatism:

500 g of the tops of young branches with buds pour 2.5 liters of water, boil for 30 minutes, then add the decoction to a bath of warm water;
Pour 500 g of crushed needles into 2.5 liters of water, boil for 10 minutes, then leave for 12 hours, strain, add to a bath of warm water.

Watch a short video about the beneficial properties of needles Let's treat the tree! :

Boils, pustules, ulcers and wounds that are difficult to heal are dealt with with the help of an ointment, which is prepared from spruce resin, wax and butter. For the same purpose, you can use dry spruce resin powder.

A WARNING:

It is contraindicated to use spruce preparations for gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers!

In the pharmaceutical industry, synthetic camphor is extracted from spruce, which is part of balms for rubbing joints with rheumatism and arthritis, as well as drugs prescribed for heart diseases. Turpentine, purified in a special way, is also used in official medicine for the preparation of warming, analgesic ointments - turpentine ointment, "Efkamon" ointment and balms - "Tiger" balm. Ready-made extracts are commercially available for those that have a relaxing, calming effect in the treatment of nervous and cardiovascular diseases.

Spruce wood is soft, but strong and resilient, used in the manufacture of furniture, in construction for interior decoration, paper, musical instruments are made from it.

Turpentine, rosin, tar are obtained from spruce wood, tannins from the bark, and oil from cone seeds. Terpinhydrate is obtained from turpentine - a substance with an expectorant effect, it is used in the form of tablets for the treatment of chronic bronchitis.

Tar, obtained from wood, is widely used in the form of 10-30% ointments for the treatment of eczema, lichen, and other skin diseases.

It has such a variety of healing properties - an ordinary miracle!

Get to know her better and use the beneficial properties of pine needles to maintain and improve health!