It was on a 2008 expedition to Taiwan, where I met the Taiwan native spruce, Picea morrisonicola. This amazing plant was named in honor of its native habitat on Mt. Morrison, which was, as was the colonialistic habit at the time, named for English missionary, Robert Morrison (1782-1834) . Today, the mountain is known as Yushan Mountain, although the spruce retains Morrison’s name.
At the time, I was not aware of anyone cultivating this spruce in our region, but based on what grew nearby, it seemed like it should be fine in our climate. Returning home, our first seedlings were finally large enough to be planted in the ground in 2011. Below is a photo of that same plant this week, having made a robust specimen. In the wild, they tower to 150′, although, I expect to be long gone by the time that occurs here. We’ve tried most of the spruce species that will grow here, and this sets the standard for vigorous performance. I have little doubt that when seed become more widely available that this will become a landscape staple.
What a beauty!