The spruce is occasionally confused with other conifers, quite often with the fir and occasionally with the pine. However, there are distinctive features by which even laypeople can easily and unequivocally recognize a spruce tree.
How do I tell the difference between pine and spruce?
To distinguish pine and spruce, pay attention to needles, cones and bark: pine needles are long and soft, their cones are rounded and large-scaled, the bark is gray-brown with plate formation; Spruce needles are short, hard and pointed, their cones are long and narrow, and the bark is reddish and thinly scaled.
How do I recognize a pine tree?
The pine tree clearly has the longest needles of the native conifers. Depending on the species, they are around four to eight centimeters long and are relatively soft. Their cones are almost round, but usually roughly egg-shaped.
The scales on the cone spread open when ripe so that the seeds can fall out. Nevertheless, the scales are still stuck. Pine cones are very suitable as decoration or for crafts.
What characteristics characterize a spruce?
The spruce tree has short, hard and pointed needles that grow around the branch, in contrast, the pine needles only grow flat on two sides and are significantly softer. A he althy spruce tree usually has a uniformly conical crown. However, there are also species with special growth habits.
It is not easy to recognize a tree by its bark alone, as this can change depending on the tree species and age. In general, the bark of a Norway spruce, also known as Norway spruce, is reddish to reddish brown with quite thin scales. Another characteristic of spruce trees are the up to 16 centimeter narrow cones that hang on the branches. Pine cones are significantly smaller and stand upright.
The most important distinguishing features:
- Needles: long and soft in pine, short, hard and pointed in spruce
- Cones: in the pine, rounded with large scales, in the spruce, long and narrow, with fine scales
- Bark: in pine, grey-brown with plate formation, in spruce, usually reddish and thinly flaky
- Growth height: pine approx. 40 m, spruce up to 60 m
- Crown: flattened at the top in the pine, evenly conical in the spruce
Tip
The easiest way to distinguish between pines and spruces is by their needles and cones. Professionals can also recognize them by the bark and/or the trunk.
