Many people do not know how to distinguish a tree from a fir tree. Often even disputes arise about how to actually name the tree installed in the house on the eve of the New Year. To solve this problem will help a few facts listed later in the article.
The concepts of "Christmas tree" and "Spruce"
According to the dictionary, spruce is one of the subtypes of the Pine family. There are more than four dozen species of fir trees. For example, there are Siberian, Eastern, Canadian, Korean, dwarf, ordinary, etc. Spruce trees are most common in the temperate climate of Europe, Asia, and North America.
The average lifespan of these plants is 300 years, although there are long-livers. For example, on the territory of Sweden, a spruce tree grows, which is not only the oldest representative of its species, but also the oldest plant on the planet. His age is 9,550 years.Did you know? The Germanic tribes had a custom to decorate a Christmas tree. The soldiers just did it before the campaign in order to appease the spirits of the spruce forest (the tree was considered sacred).
As for the Christmas tree, this is just the popular name for one of the species of spruce, namely, ordinary spruce. This tree differs in that it grows mainly in the northern latitudes of Europe, although it is also found in the Carpathians, the Alps and the Balkans (at an altitude of 500 m to 1 km). The average age of the plant is only 180 years. Christmas tree wood is often used as a building material. Essential and tannins are made from cones.
Wood is used to make paper, musical instruments, rosin and pulp. A decoction of spruce needles was considered very useful before - it saved sailors from scurvy in long sea voyages. Today, this part of the tree is used to create vitamin flour for livestock.
Differences of a Christmas tree from other coniferous plants
The Christmas tree, as one of the representatives of the spruce genus, has many similar characteristics with the rest of the Pine family: fir, pine, cedar, larch.
Pine is a photophilous plant that grows poorly and develops in the shade. Spruce, on the contrary, prefers partial shade and dries out during prolonged sultry weather.
And if confusing the last two varieties of conifers with a Christmas tree is quite difficult, then with fir and pine, the situation is slightly different. The following is a comparison of the main differences between these pine plants.
| Christmas tree | Pine | Fir |
| Low growth rate, average height is 30 m. | Normal growth rate, average height is 40 m. | Normal growth rate, average height is 80 m. |
| Cones are reddish brown, large. | Cones are yellow-brown, medium in size. | Cones are brown, elongated. |
| The needles fall off gradually, being completely renewed in 8-12 years. The length of the needles reaches 3 cm. | The needles are falling quickly, completely renewing in 2 years. The length of the needles reaches 6 cm. | The needles fall off gradually, being completely renewed in 4 years. The length of the needles reaches 5 cm. |
| The needles are evergreen, hard. | The needles acquire a copper-yellow hue closer to autumn, hard. | The needles are evergreen, soft to the touch. |
| The average age is 180 years. | The average age is 350 years. | The average age is 150-200 years. |
| The main root atrophies over time, the main load falls on the lateral roots. Because of this, the spruce can fall over during strong winds. | It has a rooted root system, but the main load still falls on the main root, due to which the pine is well attached to the soil. | It has a powerful rod system with a long main root. |
| The shape of the crown is a regular cone. | The crown shape over time from the regular cone is replaced by a spreading canopy with randomly placed branches. | The shape of the crown is pyramidal. |
Thus, the Christmas tree is a narrower concept, since it corresponds to only one type of pine plant, while the spruce covers more than 40 species. Related to this is the difference in the distribution area of conifers. Do not also forget that the tree is just the popular name for the ordinary spruce, and in botany such a term does not exist.
