Picea abies 'Monstrosa' is a massive, upright tree form of Norway spruce with heavy semi-fastigiate branches, sparse branchlets and radially arranged, long, stiff, dark-green needles, 1.5 inches (3.5 cm) long. After 10 years of growth, a mature specimen will measure 10 feet (3 m) tall and 6 feet (2 m) wide, an annual growth rate of 12 inches (30 cm) or more.
'Monstrosa' is an old cultivar in the nursery trade, first described in 1938 by Scottish botanist, John Claudius Loudon, in his most significant work, Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, as a unique and horticulturally significant plant found on Bella Island, Italy in the late 1800s. It has been suggested that similar clones have been discovered and propagated under this name, diminishing it's value as a distinct cultivar.
