Page 48 - Растения Сахалинской области в легендах и мифах

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Sakhalin spruce or Glehn’s spruce

(Picea glehnii (Fr. Schmidt) Mast)

A coniferous winter-green tree 10–15
m high with peeling scaly or lamellar
reddishbrown bark, rusty-brown densely
hairy young stems and a racy-distal broad-
ovate crown. The diameter of the trunk is
30–60 cm. The needles are tetrahedral,
lighter on top, slightly curved, 6–10 cm
long. Female cones are gray-brown, shiny,
3–6 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, ovate-
cylindrical shape. Seeds are small, chestnut
in color, with a wing of about 1 cm.
In Russia, it was spotted only on the
territory of the Sakhalin Region: Sakhalin
Islands (Anivsky and Korsakovsky
Districts), Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan
(rarely), on the northern border of the
range. In artificial plantations it grows in
the Dolinsky district. Outside of Russia, it
is found in Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu). A long time ago, autumn came very
early. The leaves have not yet fallen
from the trees, but strong cold has
already come, and the birds hastened to
the warm regions. Only one little bird
with a wounded wing did not have time
to fly away with everyone. She decided

to ask for a shelter in the forest. But
all the trees refused to give her shelter,
and only the tall spruce took pity on the
poor thing, and hid it in its branches.
They lived hapily together, and then
one night a strong wind raged. It

wanted to strip the whole forest naked,
but the king of the cold, Frost, stood up
for the spruce with a birdie. The wind
dared not disobey. To this day, there is
an evergreen spruce.

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