Picea abies 'Procumbens' is a vigorous, broadly spreading selection of Norway spruce with slightly ascending branches and species-typical dark-green needles. After 10 years of growth, a mature specimen will measure 16 inches (40 cm) tall and 32 inches (80 cm) wide, an annual growth rate of 2 to 4 inches (10 - 20 cm), significantly more outward than up.
'Procumbens' is a very old cultivar in the nursery trade, known in large gardens and arboretums since the mid-1800s. French Botanist Élie-Abel Carrière formally described it in 1855 in his most important work, Traité Général des Conifères, (General Treatise of Conifers). "Procumbens" translates into "procumbent" in the Latin language, describing a tendency for a plant to spread outward without setting roots.
