Picea pungens 'Brynek' / Brynek Colorado spruce

Picea pungens 'Brynek' is an exceptionally compact, globose selection of Colorado spruce with extremely prickly, thick steel-blue needles and extraordinarily fleshy branchlets. After 10 years of growth, a mature specimen will be 14 inches (35 cm) tall and wide, a growth rate of 1 to 1.5 inches (2.5 - 3.5 cm) per year. Its unique color and structure make it well worth the effort to seek it out for a collection of xeric conifers.

This cultivar originated as a seedling selected in 1983 by Sławomir Skórka, Warsaw, Poland from seed he collected from specimens of Picea pungens 'Glauca' in Poland's Brynek forest district. He suspects that this particular seedling is a tetraploid, a genetic mutation.

Picea pungens 'Brynek' at the Smits pinetum, Volkel, The Netherlands.
Photo by Edwin Smits
Picea pungens 'Brynek' — the original seedling in a garden in Poland. A 22-year old plant when the photo was taken.
Photo by Paweł Petertill
Picea pungens 'Brynek' — a young specimen in the Stanley and Sons display garden in Boring, Oregon.
Photo by David Olszyk
Picea pungens 'Brynek' — a closeup of foliage detail.
Photo by David Olszyk
Picea pungens 'Brynek' — mint-green new growth contrasting against the mature blue needles.
Photo by Curtis Wright

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