Picea engelmannii 'Franzi' #66 is a diminutive, compact selection of Engelmann spruce with pleasant Blue-gray needles and a uniform, flattened, globose structure. This plant is a true miniature, growing an inch (2.5 cm) or less per year. After 10 years, a mature plant will be 10 inches (25 cm) wide and somewhat less tall. This is probably one of the slowest growing cultivars known in this species.
This cultivar originated as a witch's broom found during a joint broom hunting expedition on January 20, 2004 along the Mt Evans road in Colorado's front range. Among those in attendance where Colorado's Jerry Morris, Austria's Franz Etzelstorfer, and Germany's Jörg Kohout, three of the legends in the field of conifer collecting. Upon collection, it was given provisional name Picea engelmannii [#66] and later renamed in honor of Franz Etzelstorfer. Purists will list this plant as Picea engelmannii 'Franzi' #66.
