This actually looks quite promising for a hybrid, though it could also just be straight P. omorika. Can you get some of those cones down for a close-up pic? If you can, take a pic of them next to a 15cm ruler for scale.

Resin

that's an awesome plant!

Resin,
It is impossible to reach the cones even with my longest pruning pole. They are very high up near the top. I will put on a zoom len and attempt to take a closer pic tomorrow, and perhaps roughly estimate by scaling it relative to the needle length. I am not hopeful that it will be in the typical range of breweriana's 8-15 cm cone, but could be longer than the omorika's 3-5 cm cone.

A beautiful tree.
Thanks for showing.
Richard

I have admired this hybrid for years since seeing the pictures, Garcan. (I think you originally had them posted to some other conifer site on the WWW, right?) Unfortunately it's been next to impossible to find in the US nursery trade.

Further to my previous post above, here are a couple of pic taken this morning.

By scaling the cone relative to the needle lenth, I estimated that the cones are in 6-7+ cm range (very roughly).
I found an old cone right under its feet. I cannot be 100% sure it is from this tree. (The nearest tree with 'similar' cone is a Picea abies about 40 ft away.)
Here it is:

davidrt28,
I did post a couple of pic a few years ago on this forum, but I can't find it any more. I bought about 5 of this from John Vermelulen & Son about 20 years ago. Only this one can stand up on its own without any training. The leaders of the others cannot stand on their own even with years of training, and are all dead after several years (probably because they are sitting on wet clay areas). I saw it on buchholz nursery catalog.
The problem is every image I saw on the internet on this plant looks different. I am hoping to get a more concrete identification via this post.

Interesting cone picture. If the hybrid is reported as P. omorika X breweriana, that implies the seed came off an omorika. So I would say the cone being an intermediate-to-breweriana length argues for hybrid status.
Maybe they were from a seed lot and your plant is unique. Get some scions out there!

Thanks! In the first pic, I still can't rule out typical P. omorika.

The second cone is from an Eastern White Pine Pinus strobus ;-)

Resin

Resin,
My mind was on Picea and forgot that I do have a couple of Pinus strobus about 20 ft behind it.
Unfortunately, this would mean that I have to watch for some real cones to fall in front of me, since there is no other way to access them.
Thank you very much for your help.
If it is of any help, the pic below is cropped but the size is not resample down:(The needles as measured from the foliage near the ground is about 1.5-2 cm long)

Certainly is beautiful. :)

Mr. Garcan,

Maybe I'm the first to request. Regardless of its actual DNA, this is an interesting and desirable tree. Are you willing to send a hand full of scions to me in Washington? If so, please contact me via email.

With great honor and respect,
~Dave

Thanks! Still can't be sure it isn't just P. omorika. I guess it'll have to wait for a gale (or a squirrel) to knock down a cone or two.

Resin

I'd love to grow this beauty as well. Dave, hook me up! :)

-Will

Hi Will,

if I get the wood and get some plants to live, you're on top of the list to get one. I regret to not having the time to jet out to Ontario to get some first hand.

~Dave

"If the hybrid is reported as P. omorika X breweriana, that implies the seed came off an omorika."

Not true, geneticly seen it's always male x female so in this case the seed came off a Picea breweriana...

and...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://books.google.com/books?id=NJ6PyhVuecwC&lpg=PA23&ots=jc5clEOXga&dq=hybrid%20naming%20seed%20parent%20first&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q=hybrid%20naming%20seed%20parent%20first&f=false

Any luck getting a cone, Garcan?

I am waiting for the snow to melt so that I can put a tall freestanding ladder near it, and will attempt to use a pole tree pruner duct taped to a long pole to get one. Also, I want to check whether there is a graft union at the base or is it from a seedling.

Thanks Garcan. I look forward to learning more about this incredible looking spruce.

"so that I can put a tall freestanding ladder near it, and will attempt to use a pole tree pruner duct taped to a long pole to get one"

Sounds very risky - make sure there's a second person to hold the ladder steady, and (if the worst happens) to perform first-aid. Good luck with the attempt!

Resin

Hi Resin,
I managed to get a couple of cones. Look more like Omorika?

If they look like Picea omorika, they probably are. Can you post pics of them?

Resin

Not sure I understand what you mean. The pics of the plant in question were posted at the beginning of this thread.

I'm afraid the cones would need to be a bit longer to indicate any kind of hybridization with P. breweriana.
The cones of Picea breweriana are about 4-5 inches long.
Picea omorika are about 1.5-2.5"

-Sam

This post was edited by monkeytreeboy15 on Fri, Mar 29, 13 at 21:22

"Not sure I understand what you mean"

The pic of the harvested cones didn't show up until this morning - when I looked at that post yesterday, it just said that you had got the cones, but with no pic of them.

Yep, pure Picea omorika.

Resin

This post was edited by pineresin on Sat, Mar 30, 13 at 5:47

Thanks for the definitive identification. Since I cannot detect any sign of a graft union at the based, would you consider this a natural seedling variant of the species that is 'extra weeping with a straight trunk' not typical of Picea omorika, or are there lots of similar variants in the wild?

It can be very narrow in the wild.

Here is a link that might be useful: P. omorika in situ

Yeah, I saw those pics before. I am just not sure how prevalent or typical, and how weeping are the natural forms in the wild.

Just came across this pic. Can Resin confirm whether it is a hybrid indeed?

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed cone of Picea omorika x breweriana?

No I can't confirm whether it is a hybrid, because it isn't ;-)
It's Picea omorika, no hybrid parentage there.

Also their "Picea breweriana" 3 pics to the right (click the right arrow slide show 3 times) is actually a Picea smithiana . . . ;-)

Resin

Resin, Thanks