Picea omorika
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Credits
Tom Christian (2025)
Recommended citation
Christian, T. (2025), 'Picea omorika' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Common Names
- Serbian Spruce
- Omorika
- Serbgran
Infraspecifics
Other taxa in genus
- Picea abies
- Picea × albertiana
- Picea alcoquiana
- Picea asperata
- Picea asperata aggregate
- Picea brachytyla
- Picea breweriana
- Picea chihuahuana
- Picea crassifolia
- Picea engelmannii
- Picea farreri
- Picea × fennica
- Picea glauca
- Picea glehnii
- Picea jezoensis
- Picea koraiensis
- Picea koyamae
- Picea likiangensis
- Picea likiangensis aggregate
- Picea linzhiensis
- Picea × lutzii
- Picea mariana
- Picea × mariorika
- Picea martinezii
- Picea maximowiczii
- Picea mexicana
- Picea meyeri
- Picea morrisonicola
- Picea neoveitchii
- Picea obovata
- Picea orientalis
- Picea polita
- Picea pungens
- Picea purpurea
- Picea rubens
- Picea × saaghii
- Picea schrenkiana
- Picea sitchensis
- Picea smithiana
- Picea spinulosa
- Picea wilsonii
Tree 35–40 m tall, to <1 dbh. Bark of young trees rough, soon breaking into papery flakes, reddish-brown, later grey, detaching in thin irregular plates. Crown diagnostically very narrow-conical, spire-like, dense, branched to the ground. First order branches relatively short, slender, assurgent in young trees, later curved slightly downward or pendent, assurgent at tips; second order branches dense, slender, short, pendent. Branchlets short, slender, flexible, orange-brown to pale brown, grey-brown by third year, with flat-topped ridges and shallow grooves, initially pubescent, glabrous by third year; pulvini to 1.5 mm, subglabrous. Vegetative buds ovoid-conical, acute, 5–8 × 2.5–4.5 mm, not or slightly resinous at base only; bud scales ovate, acute, appressed at first, later free, red- to orange-brown, persisting several years. Leaves initially radially spreading, later swept forward above shoot and parted below, 8–22 × 1.5–2.2 mm, base truncate, linear, straight or curved, apex abruptly obtuse or sub-acute, flattened-quadrangular in cross section, keeled on both surfaces, with 4–6 lines of stomata on lower surface only; leaf colour glossy dark green above, lower surface with two greenish-white stomatal bands. Pollen cones 2–2.5 cm long. Seed cones terminal, often on short lateral shoots subtending leading shoots, ovoid-oblong, pedunculate with peduncles curved and scaly, 4–6.5 × 2–3 cm with open scales, very dark blue to purplish at first, ripening through purplish-brown to red- or grey-brown. Seed scales suborbicular, 1–1.5 × 1–1.3 cm at midcone, thin, rigid, glabrous; upper margin erose-denticulate; base cuneate. Bract scales ligulate, 2–3 mm long, entirely included. Seeds ovoid, 3 × 2.5 mm, apex acute, brown, with a papery ovate wing 6–8 × 4–5 mm, pale yellowish-brown. (Farjon 2017; Bean 1976).
Distribution Bosnia and Herzegovina Foča, Vlasenica, Sarajevo-Romanija Serbia Bajina Bašta, Prijepolje
Habitat Steep north to northwest facing limestone slopes (sometimes precipitous) which overlay igneous rocks at 800–1450 m asl. It often forms pure stands or is co-dominant with Picea abies and Pinus nigra. Depending on the altitude and slope, other associates include Abies alba, Aria edulis, Fagus sylvatica, Ostrya carpinifolia, Populus tremula, Sorbus aucuparia, Quercus spp. The climate is characterised by rather warm summers and cold winters.
USDA Hardiness Zone 4-5
RHS Hardiness Rating H7
Conservation status Endangered (EN)
With its characteristic densely slender silhouette, Picea omorika is perhaps the most immediately recognisable spruce. In their wild state several other species can mimic its aesthetic – especially at northern latitudes with abundant winter snow – but in cultivation Serbian Spruce is unique, when established, in combining its signature svelte shape with a dense, almost impenetrable canopy. Thoughtfully sited, it lends a sculptural quality to plantings that few other conifers can match. It is also extremely versatile, equally at home on acid and alkaline soils, even thin chalky soils, and it is extremely cold hardy.
The species is confined to a narrow area in the remote Drina River Valley, straddling the border of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the central Balkans, where it clings perilously to existence as a wild plant on the extremely steep slopes and limestone outcrops that characterise the area. A Tertiary relict, the fossil record tells us Picea omorika once had a much more extensive range through Europe, but successive ice ages have continually pushed it back into this refuge, from where its lack of competitive ability has prevented it from expanding again (Mataruga et al. 2019). Indeed, as the only flat-leaved spruce native to Europe it has been considered a botanical anomaly (all the other flat-leaved species, to which it was assumed to be related, are native either side of the Pacific and into the Himalayas). Recent molecular studies have largely dispelled that theory, though without forming a consensus on any particular affiliation: in one of the more complete phylogenies Lockwood et al. (2013) found P. omorika nested within their Eurasian clade, in a branch that also contains the Japanese endemics P. alcoquiana and P. maximowiczii and the Caucasian P. orientalis; a close relationship with P. orientalis is supported by Feng et al. (2018). Curiously, these and other studies appear to agree that P. omorika is not particularly closely related to the other flat-leaved species.
Its former distribution, over far more varied habitats than it now occupies, might help to explain its versatility in cultivation. Alan Mitchell marvelled at Picea omorika’s ability to grow cheerfully in virtually any part of the UK and Ireland, including in towns and cities where air pollution seems not to trouble it, and in cold, poorly drained, upland sites as a timber crop, where the soil conditions are about as different from those in native stands as it is possible to get (Mitchell 1996). P. omorika has been a minor component in the arsenal of British foresters since the early 20th century, and continues to be planted in some commercial stands here, but it has never seriously competed with the popularity of P. sitchensis in this role, while throughout adjacent Europe native P. abies has always been favoured. More recently, Serbian Spruce has joined the roll call of ‘novel’ species used in the Christmas tree trade, especially as potted (‘living’) trees, which may account for the increase in isolated omorikoid spires in unlikely British gardens in recent years (pers. obs.). A hybrid origin is often suspected in such plants because young P. omorika can be very variable in shape, particularly their ‘narrowness’, but this is typical of plants raised from seed even of known wild origin and it should not, in isolation, be interpreted as an indication of hybridity (pers. obs., but NB the final paragraph below).
Despite being a relatively late discovery in a European context, the precise details, and those of its introduction to cultivation, are typically obtuse. Writing in the first volume of The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland, Henry Elwes states confidently that Picea omorika was discovered by the Serbian botanist and medical doctor Josif Pančić on 1 August 1875 near Zaovine in what is now the Tara National Park, Serbia (Elwes & Henry 1906). In Veitch’s Manual of the Coniferae Kent (1900) gives 1872 for the discovery while others, for example Jacobson (1996), have suggested that Pančić did not discover it but only recived material in 1875 and didn’t visit the tree’s habitat until 1877. What is certain is that when he published a name for the discovery in 1877, Pančić borrowed a word from his native language for the specific epithet, ‘omorika’, which apparently was the given name used by locals in the very remote, inaccessible region where it grows.
The first seed seems to have been distributed very soon after it was described to science, probably initially by Pančić himself, before the inevitable subdividing and sharing of lots among international networks. Thus the Arnold Arboretum received its first seed in 1880 from a Dr Bolle of Berlin and the nursery firm Messers Froebel of Zurich were distributing young plants by 1884 (Elwes & Henry 1906). In 1889 Kew received seed from an unspecified source in Belgrade and this is often cited as the date of its introduction to Britain, but Veitch was able to display living material at a meeting of the Linnaean Society of London on 21 January 1886 (biodiversityheritagelibrary.org), presumably having also received living material from Froebel in 1884 or 1885.
Despite its versatility Picea omorika is not especially long-lived; no original trees remained at the Arnold Arboretum by 1982 (Warren 1982) and none are known to survive in the UK (two 1889 trees survived at Kew into the early 2000s). The oldest now in Britain are two from 1897 on the Jubilee Terrace at Murthly Castle, Perthshire. Until 2024 this duo was a trio, and for many decades was lauded in conifer literature as among the prime examples of the species, including the UK and Ireland champions for height and girth in separate trees (Tree Register 2024; pers. obs.). Indeed, they were the first examples of the species met by this author, who mourns the loss of one of these three graces most keenly, quite at odds with the Lady of the House who has always disliked them! Fortunately a group of ten young plants, raised from wild-sourced seed, is establishing brilliantly nearby (pers. obs.).
Although its narrow shape theoretically makes it an ideal conifer for planting in restricted spaces, Picea omorika does seem to need plenty of room to develop an extensive root system. Urban examples are nearly always restricted to parks, cemeteries and large gardens; it is only rarely planted as a street tree in Britain, but can be successfully incorporated into such planting schemes where the roots will have sufficient space, but it will generally fail where they do not (pers. obs.). Single specimens seem to be the norm, but Picea omorika is very effective in small groups. One of the best plantings of the latter style may be seen in the Valley Gardens in Windsor Great Park, UK, where a relatively large number of trees, closely planted, have grown into a miniature fairy tale forest.
Following extensive fieldwork in 2008 and 2010, led by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s International Conifer Conservation Programme (ICCP), and during which all extant stands were visited, Picea omorika’s conservation status was reassessed and upgraded from vulnerable to the more serious category of endangered on account of its restricted distribution, historic logging, lack of regeneration, and the significant threat posed by climate change (Mataruga et al. 2019). This fieldwork also resulted in probably the most comprehensive and well-documented seed introductions for ex-situ conservation, with many hundreds of plants being raised from 53 collections from Serbia (2008, collector code LGDI) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (2010, collector code CDGM) and distributed through the ICCP’s network of safe-sites in the UK and Ireland (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 2024).
The largest wild trees seen in Bosnian populations were to c. 35 m × 30 cm dbh (CDGM 44 / E00416727; pers. obs.). Such heights have nearly nearly been equalled by cultivated trees, many of which have significantly larger girths. The tallest of the trio at Murthly, which remains alive in 2024 and is also the tallest cultivated record for the UK and Ireland, was 31.5 m × 72 cm dbh in 2017, comfortably larger than the next tallest known in Britain, 30.5 m × 56 cm dbh at Westonbirt in 2024; a tree at Ashbourne House, Cork, Ireland, has the largest recorded girth, 80 cm dbh on a tree 21 m tall in 2000. There are many other trees within touching distance of 30 m widely scattered in Britain, from Kent to the Scottish Highlands and from the glens of Argyll to the east of England; the largest girths are scattered too, albeit the Murthly trio account for the second, third, and fourth largest girths recorded in the UK and Ireland, and a total of five of the top ten here are in Perthshire (Tree Register 2024).
In mainland Europe there is a tree 71 cm dbh at Arboretum de Bouillon in Belgium, one c. 64 cm dbh on the landgoed Bruggelen, the Netherlands, another approaching this at the Von Gimborn Arboretum, also in the Netherlands. Picea omorika is exceedingly cold tolerant: it is a popular ornamental in Scandinavia, and an example at Arboretum Mustila, Finland, is probably the tallest cultivated tree on record there at 33 m in 2014; trees to 30 m are also known from Slovakia and Germany (Monumental Trees 2024).
Picea omorika has hybridised in cultivation with a range of other spruces but not, curiously, with P. abies, which occurs with P. omorika in the wild where no such hybrids are known (Mataruga et al. 2019; Savill et al. 2017). Such hybrids have always generated interest because of the horticultural merit of P. omorika, but only a few hybrid clones have become at all widely grown.
'Arendal'
This cultivar was selected in Norway and popularised in northern Europe by, for example, the Horstmann Nurseries who distributed it from the early 1980s. It is described as forming a narrow column, suitable for screens and tolerant of coastal conditions (Auders & Spicer 2012). It may no longer be in commerce.
'Aurea'
A tree of typical habit with the new spring growth bright yellow, fading through yellowish-green and turning pale green by the following winter, darkening in the second year. This is the same behaviour exhibited by the much more commonly encountered Picea orientalis ‘Aurea’. P. omorika ‘Aurea’ was raised before 1979 in the nursery of G. Bos & Sons, Boskoop, the Netherlands. Vigour moderate, to 2.5 m tall in ten years (Auders & Spicer 2012). According to the internationally agreed set of rules governing the naming of garden plants, Latin cultivar names are only permitted if they can be proved to have been published before 1959; in practice very few growers pay any attention to this, and in this instance the name ‘Aurea’ perfectly communicates the distinctive feature of this handsome tree. The more recent cultivar ‘Golden Rain’ is said to be an improvement.
'Blue Sky'
A selection with the young growth glaucous, fading to green by the second or third year. Habit typical of the species, vigour moderate, to 2 m tall in ten years. Raised by the Oregon firm Bucholz & Bucholz in 1995 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Bruns'
Not to be confused with the pendulous selection ‘Pendula Bruns’, this is quite a different plant, typical of the species but with glaucous foliage, particularly in the first year, and brilliant white stomatal bands on the leaf undersides. Relatively slow, to 1.5 m tall in ten years. Like ‘Pendula Bruns’, it was raised in the nursery of Heinrich Bruns, in Germany, and commercialised about 1955 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
Dwarf Cultivars
Here we list a curated selection of cultivars that remain less than 1 m tall and broad ten years from planting. For further introductory remarks on cultivars see the notes at the end of the genus article. In the case of Picea omorika in particular, dwarf cultivars as we define them may be broadly divided into two groups based on habit: the first group are generally upright plants, typically pyramidal or conical in outline but crucially growing taller than wide; the second group are more or less globose, generally growing wider than tall or as wide as tall. In the individual entries below we begin the descriptions with this distinction. As in several other Picea species degree of leaf glaucescence can be a further useful sub-division (e.g. upright green vs. upright blue) but because P. omorika leaves are usually assurgent on the outermost shoots of mature plants the glaucous stomatal bands on the leaf undersides are usually in full view anyway; those selections that are truly ‘blue’ owe this to the fact the upper leaf surface is distinctly glaucous, rather than the rich dark green typical of the species. This distinction, between the stomatal bands and the rest of the leaf surfaces, especially the upper surface, is an important distinction to keep in mind when reading the descriptions below, and when looking at living plants. A very small number of the dwarfs listed here are variegated.
'Alexandra'
Broadly pyramidal, leaves somewhat radially arranged, showing off the silvery-glaucous lower surface. To 1 m tall and nearly as broad at the base in ten years. Recorded from Austria before 1998 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'De Ruyter'
Upright, pyramidal to conical, the branch ends turning irregularly upward almost to the vertical, leaves somewhat radially arranged, showing off the silvery-glaucous lower surface. To 70 cm tall and 40 cm broad at the base in ten years. Raised from seed at the De Ruyter nursery in the Netherlands in 1938 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Elizabeth'Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'HB Nr 3 Horstmann'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'HB Nr 3 Horstmann'
Globose, later flat-topped, leaves short, somewhat radially arranged, showing off the silvery-glaucous lower surface. To 30 cm tall and 70 cm across in ten years. Raised in the Horstmann Nurseries, Germany in 1978 and named for Elizabeth Horstmann (Auders & Spicer 2012 – NB the description therein (p. 684) is correct, but the illustration (p. 690) shows a different cultivar).
'Frohnleiten'
Irregular, usually subglobose and flat-topped with age, leaves short, pale green above, silvery below, spreading beneath the shoot but flattened above it. Raised about 1958 in Frohnleiten, Germany (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Fröndenberg'Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Horstrich'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Horstrich'
Globose or broad-conical, of very dense growth, leaves somewhat glaucous-green above, silvery-glaucous beneath. To 40 cm tall and twice as broad in ten years. Listed by the Kenwith Nursery, UK in 2003 but of uncertain origin (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Günther'Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'HB Nr 2 Horstmann'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'HB Nr 2 Horstmann'
Broadly globose, leaves somewhat radially arranged showing off the silvery-glaucous lower surface. To 70 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised in the Horstmann Nurseries, Germany before 1978 and named for Günther Horstmann (Auders & Spicer 2012). One of the more convincingly silver dwarfs.
'Hallonet'
Globose, of dense growth, leaves somewhat radially arranged, showing off the silvery-glaucous lower surface, upper surfaces dark green. The compact habit and the somewhat irregularly directed shoots cause the viewer to see a proportion of upper and lower shoot surfaces at the same time, giving a patchwork effect of green and rather darkly glaucous foliage. To 30 cm tall and broad in ten years. Recorded from the Netherlands before 2005 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Havel'
Globose, extremely compact, leaves very short, radially arranged showing off their brilliant silver undersides. To 30 cm tall and slightly broader in ten years. A witches’ broom selected by Jiři Havel in Czechia in 2002 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Kamenz'
Subglobose, leaves very short, radially arranged, showing off the silvery-glaucous lower surface. To 30 cm tall and 70 cm across in ten years. Raised in Czechia before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Kavel'
‘Kamenz’ but faster, to 75 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised most likely in Czechia before 2000 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Kuschen'
Another ‘Kamenz’ lookalike of comparable vigour but ultimately a broader and somewhat flat-topped bush. Selected in Czechia before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Liberec'
Globose, dense, leaves short, radially arranged, showing off the particularly silvery-glaucous lower surface. To 60 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised in Liberec, Czechia before 1999 (Auders & Spicer 2012). Of the suite of Czech lookalikes, this is one of the more strikingly silver-coloured selections.
'Minimax'Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Minima'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Minima'
Sub-globose, flat-topped, leaves very short, somewhat radially arranged showing off the silvery-glaucous lower surface, upper surface grey-green like ‘Nana’. Slow; to 20 cm tall and 30 cm across in ten years. Propagated from a witches’ broom found on ‘Nana’ by J.D. zu Jeddeloh, Germany, before 1979 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Nana'
Upright, broad-pyramidal, very dense and somewhat irregular in habit, with leaves grey-green above (somewhat yellowish-green when fresh) and typically silvery-glaucous below, this latter feature is shown off to great effect by the radial arrangement of leaves on the outermost shoots (Bean 1976; Auders & Spicer 2012).
Arguably the original dwarf, ‘Nana’ was selected in the Goudkade Brothers nursery in Boskoop, the Netherlands, about 1930 (Jacobson 1996). It quickly became a popular garden plant both in Europe and North America – W.J. Bean called it ‘one of the best small conifers’ (Bean 1976). While it fits our definition of ‘dwarf’ by taking over ten years to reach 1 m tall (typically 75 cm tall in ten years – Auders & Spicer 2012) after many decades this is a small tree and this may go some way to explain its waning popularity. Jacobson (1996) records a tree 7.3 m tall in Sidney, British Columbia in 1994, then aged about 32 years. In the UK there are fine examples in many collections, of particular note are: a tree in the Valley Gardens (the Heather Garden) in Windsor Great Park, 8 m tall × 20 cm dbh in 2021; one at Bedgebury National Pinetum, Kent, 7.5 m tall in 2024; and one in the scree beds at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire, 6 m in 2013 and probably nearer 7 m by 2024 (pers. obs.). The Bedgebury and Hillier trees are both illustrated below and show the variability in habit: the Bedgebury tree is a very neat, slender spire on a single trunk, while the Hillier tree has clearly forked at some stage and is a broader, multi-leadered though still a very dense and attractive tree.
'Omaston No 1'
Globose, compact, shoots more or less ascending across the plant, leaves somewhat radially arranged. To 40 cm tall and broad in ten years. Recorded from American cultivation before 2006 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Ostrava'
Another ‘Kamenz’ lookalike of about the same shape and vigour, but with the leaf undersides a particularly striking silver. From Czechia, naturally (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Pancake'
At last, a genuinely different Picea omorika dwarf. Aptly named, this selection forms a prostrate mat up to 1.2 m across in ten years but only 0.2 m or so tall in the same time. Listed by the Oregon firm Stanley & Sons in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Peve Tijn'Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Tijn'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Tijn'
Globose to broad-pyramidal, leaf upper surfaces yellowish green at first, fading to pale then mid green through the growing season, leaf undersides glaucous as usual. To 60 cm tall and 75 cm across in ten years. Selected from a mutation found on ‘Nana’ by P. Vergeldt, the Netherlands, and named for his son (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Pimoko'
Globose, compact, the leaves radially arranged showing off the strongly silvery-glaucous lower surface. To 30 cm tall and 40 cm broad in ten years. A witches’ broom selected at the Wüstemeyer Nursery, Germany in 1972 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Schneverdingen'
Globose, very compact, leaves radially arranged, notably glaucous. To 30 cm tall and broad in ten years. Raised at the Horstmann Nurseries, Germany, before 1991 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Trebec'
Globose, compact, leaves radially arranged, showing off the silvery-glaucous lower surface, upper surface somewhat glaucous. To 30 cm tall and broad in ten years. Cultivated in Poland before 2003 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Valenta'
Globose, compact, leaves somewhat radially arranged but the undersides somewhat duller than in many similar selections, the overall aspect of the plant being much more green than glaucous. To 30 cm tall and 40 cm broad in ten years. Cultivated in the Netherlands before 2004 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Wodan'
Included here for reference: the plant illustrated in the RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers (Auders & Spicer 2012, p. 705) is clearly not Picea omorika, but it has not been possible to determine where this cultivar’s true allegiance lies.
'Expansa'
An extraordinary plant of great vigour, lacking a central leader but producing many branches from its centre that ascend at about 45°. From these the branchlets, bearing typical foliage, nod elegantly (they are not strictly pendulous, except perhaps on very old plants) (Den Ouden & Boom 1965). So long as one starts with a young enough plant, it is possible to train one of these branches to form a leader, in which case it can form a small tree with ascending branches and pendent branchlets (Auders & Spicer 2012). Raised from seed in the Böhlje Nursery, Germany, about 1930. The original tree was planted in the private garden of the noted dendrologist James van Hoey Smith (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Fassei'
A broad-based plant, abruptly narrowing to a typical narrow spire. The foliage is described as somewhat glaucous, though images suggest this is mostly on account of the first year shoots showing their strongly silvery-glaucous undersides. To 2 m tall and 1 m across at the base in ten years. Raised in Germany before 1929 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Golden Rain'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Wolski Gold'
Described as an improvement on ‘Aurea’ with more intense, longer-lasting golden-yellow foliage. Vigorous; potentially to 3 m tall in ten years (coniferkingdom.com). Raised in Poland, it entered commerce after 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Linda'
A particularly narrow form with grey-green leaves, the pale colour most obvious on the youngest growth. Vigorous, to 2–3 m tall in ten years. Raised from seed before 1992 by Gebroeders Meeuwissen, the Netherlands (Auders & Spicer 2012).
Pendulous Cultivars
Of the larger-growing Picea omorika cultivars, nearly half are pendulous selections (Auders & Spicer 2012). They are remarkably variable, with some clones bearing exaggeratedly pendulous branchlets and even first order branches, whereas others have only vaguely pendent branchlets. For a species with a natural proclivity for somewhat pendulous growth forms this variation should come as no surprise, and a well-informed observer might well ask why they are not corralled within a formal Cultivar Group (or Groups). Indeed, an initial survey soon reveals a few characters which could be used for the purpose, for example the arrangement of the branchlets and of the first order branches with respect to the trunk, one or the other of which is usually responsible for the pendulous aesthetic. Unfortunately, even on the same tree these characters change over time, hence a set of defining characters in a ten year old plant might have totally changed by the time the same plant is fifty. This sort of variation significantly impedes any attempt to classify these clones too precisely, hence we introduce them under the heading ‘Pendulous Cultivars’ rather than a formal ‘Pendula Group’.
The earliest such cultivar to be named was ‘Pendula’ itself, in 1920, but this name soon became confused as nurseries applied it to other clones whenever a variably pendulous tree was raised from seed. Confusion soon set in and it became accepted wisdom that multiple clones were being grown under this name, at least until 2012 when Auders & Spicer (2012) clarify in the RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers that the name ‘Pendula’ should only be applied to the ‘single clone that is in general cultivation’. Regrettably they did not define its characters, but an accompanying illustration (p. 697) and surviving trees in the late Derek Spicer’s collection allow us to discern some details (see ‘Pendula’, below).
Ironically, next to more recent selections like ‘Kucks Weeping’ (1983) and ‘Pendula Bruns’ (1955), ‘Pendula’ itself appears relatively typical of the species as a young tree, but it earns its name in its later decades. Most pendulous selections retain the mid- to dark-green leaf colour typical of the species; as young plants many have strongly assurgent leaves on their outermost branchlets and leading shoots, showing off the silvery-glaucous undersides, but only a few, like ‘Berliner’s Weeper’, are truly glaucous. For better or for worse the 21st century selection ‘Buttermilk Falls’ has added a variegated plant to the rollcall of pendulous cultivars, but despite these advances, ‘Pendula Bruns’ and plants labelled ‘Pendula’ (regardless of their true identity) remain the most popular of their ilk.
'Berliner's Weeper'
Various literature sources describe this cultivar as bearing ‘strongly pendulous’ branches, but illustrations in the RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers (Auders & Spicer 2012, p. 688) and internet searches suggest this is an exaggeration and that, like ‘Pendula’, ‘Berliner’s Weeping’ belongs to that group of pendulous cultivars where the pendulous quality is provided by the branchlets rather than the first order branches. A vigorous plant – to 2.5 m tall in ten years – the first order branches appear nodding rather than pendulous, these in turn bearing more convincingly pendent (though not strictly pendulous) branchlets. Putting the question of habit aside, this cultivar is set apart by the intensely glaucous new spring growth. This gradually fades over the growing season, turning green by the following winter before the process is repeated. Raised before 1979 by Ben Berliner of Long Island, New York, but not seriously commercialised until the early 1990s (Jacobson 1996; Auders & Spicer 2012). It has probably always been more widely offered and planted in North America than in Europe.
'Buttermilk Falls'
A variegated pendulous clone, with new spring growth somewhat irregularly cream-yellow, rapidly fading through yellowish-green to silvery-green. A mutation on ‘Pendula Major’, found by Robert Fincham of Washington, United States in 2000 (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Gotteli Weeping'
Despite its name, if images online are anything to go by, as a young tree this is one of the least-covincingly pendulous Picea omorika selections discussed here. Indeed, one might spend several years after planting questioning whether the plant has been accurately identified! It grows rapidly (3–4 m tall in ten years; Auders & Spicer 2012) and will eventually mature into an elegant, narrow spire; the first order branches, initially only bowed downward and ascendent at their tips, become more obviously pendant to the trunk, and the branchlets, also initially quite unremarkable, finally become strongly pendulous. The shoots in the outer-most crown have radially arranged leaves which show off their striking stomatal bands on the under surfaces. Selected in the Gotelli Collection, New Jersey, before 1940 (Auders & Spicer 2012) but curiously not mentioned by Jacobson (1996). The Iseli Nursery of Oregon suggests it ‘tolerates heat and humidity better than most’ (Iseli Nursery 2025).
'Kuck Weeping'Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Kuck's Weeping'
Picea omorika 'Pendula Kuck'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Kuck's Weeping'
Picea omorika 'Pendula Kuck'
A strongly weeping plant, but in youth somewhat wayward with a leader inclined to venture off in various directions at various times, and sometimes inclined to produce secondary leaders which should be removed. A well-behaved (or well-disciplined) plant might reach 4 m tall in ten years, with a spread of just 1 m (Auders & Spicer 2012). Once established it forms an attractive, slender spire with pendulous first order branches and branchlets, very like ‘Pendula Bruns’ but perhaps not so dense. Raised from seed at the Friedrich Kuck Nursery, Germany before 1983 when it was commercialised by several growers, including the Horstmann Nurseries (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Pendula'
The earliest pendulous cultivar to be named, ‘Pendula’ was recorded from Germany by von Schwerin in 1920, less than thirty years after the species was discovered and introduced to cultivation. Picea omorika has a proclivity for producing variably pendulous growth, even among batches of seed-raised trees, with the result that ‘Pendula’ became a catch-all name and for a while the nursery trade and horticultural literature (e.g. Krüssmann 1985) seemed resigned to the associated confusion. However, in the RHS Encyclopaedia of Conifers, Auders & Spicer (2012) clarify that the name ‘Pendula’ should only be applied to the ‘single clone that is in general cultivation’. Regrettably they did not define its characters, but an accompanying illustration (p. 697) and surviving trees in the late Derek Spicer’s collection (see below) allow us to discern some details.
In the encyclopaedia we can see a young tree, rather typical of the species with an erect leading shoot, first order branches initially ascending but soon bowing, later horizontal to slightly bowed downward, bearing variably pendulous second order branches and branchlets. Although only a young tree, it is clear that its habit is not nearly so strictly pendulous as that of some later selections, and consequently it will not be so narrow until it has matured. Indeed, mature specimens can be an extraordinary sight, with short pendulous branches hugging a tall erect trunk, like the tree photographed at Kilworth Conifers in March 2022. How quickly trees transition from the slouchiness of youth to the strict, narrow column of middle age is unclear.
The original clone was introduced to North American horticulture no later than 1941 (Jacobson 1996).
'Pendula Bruns'
Raised by Heinrich Bruns of the Bruns Nurseries, Germany, probably from seed sent from a wild population during the 1920s, but not released into commerce until 1955. A horticulturist by training, Bruns was stationed in Serbia when serving as a soldier during the First World War; he is believed to have befriended some locals who later sent the seed from which this selection was raised (Bloom 2021). ‘Pendula Bruns’ was selected for its incredibly narrow profile of densely set, strictly weeping branches and branchlets; only the leading shoot is vertically inclined and the plant is altogether much more pendulous than ‘Pendula’ (Auders & Spicer 2012). Bloom’s (2021) comparison with Sequoiadendron giganteum ‘Pendulum’ is amply justified, with trees maintaining a strikingly slender profile but ultimately becoming irregular and even slightly twisted, never a neat vertical column like ‘Pendula’.
‘Pendula Bruns’ can grow quite rapidly. Auders & Spicer (2012) suggest 2.5 × 0.5 m in ten years. A 2 m specimen was planted at Bressingham Gardens, Norfolk, UK about 1996 in memory of Robert Bloom who had been killed in a car accident in 1995; by 2016 it cut a striking figure 8 m tall with a trunk just 12 cm dbh (Tree Register 2025; see image below). At Bedgebury National Pinetum (Kent, UK) a tree planted in 2004 was 5 m tall in 2024 (albeit with a second leading stem) (Tree Register 2025). ‘Pendula Bruns’ was introduced to North American commerce in the late 1950s or early 1960s, where F.W. Schumacher of Boston was instrumental in popularising it as a garden plant (Bloom 2021).
Unfortunately, a second clone was distributed under this name from 1965. Another pendulous plant, it was also raised in Germany and initially propagated by the firm now known as Bruns Pflanzen (Bloom 2021). Bloom says they are ‘very similar’ and gives no distinguishing details; the usually-authoritative RHS Encylopaedia of Conifers (Auders & Spicer 2012) make no mention of this second clone. Both this second clone and ‘Pendula Bruns’ are quite distinct from another plant, of typical habit but bearing glaucous foliage, simply called ‘Bruns’ (q.v.).
'Pendula Major'
A problematic name of uncertain origin that may just have been an ill-advised re-naming of a particularly good plant of ‘Pendula’, although it is apparently not quite so vigorous, to 2.5 m tall in ten years rather than 3 m in ‘Pendula’ (Auders & Spicer 2012). Those authors note that this name was reported from the Savill Garden (Windsor Great Park, UK) in 1985, but give no further details. The variegated clone ‘Buttermilk Falls’ was selected from a plant labelled ‘Pendula Major’ in the United States in 2000.
'Radloff'
A selection probably raised in the Netherlands before 2009, resembling ‘Pendula Bruns’ but neither so narrow nor so vigorous, to 2 m tall in ten years, and the branches somewhat twisted (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'Skytrails'
First order branches elegantly bowed downward, then rising at their tips as in the species; from these hang distinctly pendulous branchlets bearing deep bluish-green leaves. The first order branches may become more obviously pendent as plants mature. Vigorous, to 3 m tall × 1 m across in ten years; origin unknown (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'T.C. Weeping'
A narrow plant with pendulous, slightly glaucous foliage. Listed by the Oregon firm Bucholz & Bucholz in 2009 but its origin is uncertain (Auders & Spicer 2012). Very vigorous; a tree near the visitor centre at Bedgebury National Pinetum (Kent, UK) planted in 2016 was 4 m tall × 8 cm dbh by 2024 (Tree Register 2025).
'Westerstede'
A tree with a strong leader and bowed branches typical of the species, which bear pendent side branches that become more obviously pendulous with age. The leaves are a particularly rich green. Neither as vigorous nor as narrow as some selections, reportedly to just 1.8 m tall in ten years but with a spread of 1 m in the same timeframe (Auders & Spicer 2012). It was listed by the Oregon firm Bucholz & Bucholz in 2009 but details of its origin are unclear.
'Riverside'
A selection offered by the Oregon firm Bucholz & Bucholz before 2009, the habit is typical but it is described as having ‘silvery blue-green foliage’. Rather vigorous, to 3 m tall in ten years (Auders & Spicer 2012). An example planted at Begdebury National Pinetum (Kent, UK) in 2001 was 11.5 m tall in 2024 (The Tree Register 2025).
'Roter Austrieb'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'Red Spring'
A selection from the Horstmann Nurseries in Germany, the new growth is initially bright red but quickly fades to a rather unremarkable – and not particularly attractive – muddy red-green. Certainly this cultivar is not so striking as similar named forms of Picea abies. Growth rate fairly typical for the species (Auders & Spicer 2012). Although those authors give ‘Red Spring’ as the proper cultivar name in their the Encyclopaedia of Conifers, it seems that the German ‘Roter Austrieb’ is correct.
'Virgata'
One of several such selections in this genus in which the plant has a strong leader but very sparsely set, and sparsely branched, first order branches. In nearly all such cases the cultivar name ‘Virgata’ is applied. The first such mutation so-named in Picea omorika was listed in the 1969 catalogue of the zu Jeddeloh Nursery, Germany, but its true origin is uncertain (Auders & Spicer 2012).
'W.P.A.'
Described by Auders & Spicer (2012) as developing ultimately into a ‘large, extremely narrow tree’, those authors state it was selected at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle. The cultivar name they list is presumably simply an acronym for its place of origin, however, internet searches for this cultivar return so few matches as to suggest it may never have been distributed, and as of summer 2025 it is not listed in the WPA’s database (University of Washington Botanic Gardens 2025).
'White Tips'
Synonyms / alternative names
Picea omorika 'White Tops'
A slow-growing plant of broadly typical habit, but with the young spring growth initially creamy-white, soon turning yellowish, pale green by the following winter. To 1.5 m tall in ten years. Listed by the Stanley & Sons nursery of Oregon in 2009 (Auders & Spicer 2012).