The Living Forest (286) : Norway spruce cones

In the forest, the cones of conifers are half-ripe at the moment.
My shot shows the reddish-green cones of a Norway spruce.
At the end of summer they will be full ripe and adorn the spruces in brown regalia (see picture below).

The Norway spruce is a large and majestic evergreen coniferous tree.
Its beautiful cones contain seeds which are a basic food for squirrels and birds like woodpeckers and crossbills.

Dutch name : Fijnspar
German name : Gemeine Fichte
Latin name : Picea abies

[fc-foto:22360741]PS: Did you know that the oldest Norway spruce tree in the world is the “Old Tjikko”, located in Sweden and 9550 (!) years old.
(determination in 2008)