Picea abies (L.) H.Karst. - syn.Picea excelsa Link - Pinaceae - Norway spruce, **Gemeine Fichte**, Rotfichte

Evergreen coniferous tree, up to 40m tall, native in Europe, widely planted as ornamental and for use as a Christmas tree.

Myrcene, limonene, β-phellandrene, and methyl salicylate were the main volatile components extracted by SPME (Tenax) from the flower scent of Norway Spruce. "The volatile constituents of the female flowers were distinctly different from those of the male flowers and the twigs. Characteristic constituents are methyl and ethyl benzoate, methyl and ethyl salicylate, methyl and ethyl butanoate, borneol and bornyl acetate. In the scent from the male flowers we could only detect the same monoterpenes as in the twigs." \\
[Odoriferous compounds from the flowers of the conifers Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris and Larix sibirica., Borg-Karlson, A.K., Eidmann, H.H., Lindström, M., Norin, T., Wiersma, N., Phytochemistry, 24(3), 1985, 455-456]

Main compounds released from one-year-old needles and twiglets of a 6-7 year old tree were monoterpenes: α-pinene and β-pinene along with limonene. \\
[Comparison monoterpene volatilization and leaf-oil composition of conifers. Schindler, T., Kotzias, D., Naturwissenschaften, Vol.76(10), 1989, 475-476]

α-pinene, camphene, myrcene, limonene, 1,8-cineole and bornyl acetate made up 70% of the total terpene content of the needles of P.abies. Terpene production has a maximum in Summer and is considerably lower in spring than in autumn.\\
[Patterns of monoterpenes stored in the needles of Picea abies (L.) Karst. from several locations in mountainous regions of southern Germany., Schönwitz, R., Kloos, M., Merk, L., & Ziegler, H., Trees, vol.4(1), 1990, 27-33] \\
[Seasonal variation in the monoterpenes in needles of //Picea abies (L.) Karst.//, Schönwitz, R., Lohwasser, K., Kloos, M., Ziegler, H., Trees, Vol.4(1), 1990, 34-40]

| {{:alpha_pinene.jpg| α-pinene }} \\ α-pinene | {{:beta_pinene.jpg| β-pinene }} \\ β-pinene | {{:myrcene.jpg| myrcene }} \\ myrcene | {{:limonene.jpg| limonene }} \\ limonene | {{:camphen.jpg| camphene }} \\ camphene | {{:bornylacetate.jpg| bornyl acetate }} \\ bornyl acetate | 

Mean composition of volatiles emitted by cones of P.abies was myrcene 50.3%, limonene/β-phellandrene 18.6%, α-pinene 14.3%, β-pinene 9.8%, 3-carene 3.6%, sabinene 1.6% and camphene 1.0%. \\ 
P.abies foliage emitted myrcene 19.4%, limonene/β-phellandrene 13.6%, α-pinene 17.7%, β-pinene 27.8%, 3-carene 10.5%, sabinene 1.9% and camphene 6.6%.  \\
[Cone and foliage volatiles emitted by Pinus cembra and some related conifer species., Dormont, L., Roques, A., Malosse, C., Phytochemistry, 49(5), 1998, 1269-1277]

{{:picea_excelsa.jpg?600}} \\
Picea abies as Picea excelsa, Masclef, A., Atlas des plantes de France, vol.3 t.394 \\
[[http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=788945]]

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Picea abies © Rolf Marschner (2022),  
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