Today’s Plant of the Day is the Corsican spruce, Pinus laricio, dedicated to St Leocadia. 10 facts about spruce trees:
Spruce belong to the genus Picea which contains about 40 species.
The word spruce might come from the Old French term Pruce, meaning Prussia, where the trees which produced commodities brought to England by Hanseatic merchants such as beer, boards, wooden chests and leather, would grow. The genus name Picea derives from the Latin for “pitch pine” because the resin was used to make pitch.
Spruce trees can grow 20 to 60 m (about 60–200 ft) tall. They are pyramidal trees with whorled branches and thin scaly bark. Upward-pointing branches give them a spire-like appearance. Unlike Pine trees, which have needles in clusters, spruce trees have individual needles attached directly to the branches. The cones are recognisable by their cylindrical shape and papery scales.
They are frequently used as Christmas Trees, with artificial trees made to resemble them.
The oldest living tree is a Spruce. It is called Old Tjikko and is located in Sweden. The tree is thought to be 9,550 years old. Leif Kullman, the geologist who discovered this tree, named it after his Dog.
The fresh shoots of many spruces are a natural source of Vitamin C. It’s possible to make Beer from them, and the Vikings did so to ward off scurvy on their long sea voyages. In more recent times, Captain James Cook provided alcoholic Sugar-based spruce beer to his crews for the same reason.
Spruce is the wood used for soundboards for many musical instruments, including Guitars, mandolins, cellos, Violins, and the soundboard at the heart of a Piano and the harp. When used for this purpose the wood is known as tonewood. It’s useful as a building wood, but because it has no insect or decay resistance qualities after logging, it is generally recommended for indoor use only. It has long wood fibres which bind together, making it an important wood for the manufacture of Paper.
In the Gaelic tradition, spruce trees are the sacred tree of Druantia, the eternal mother goddess and protector of all trees. In Greek mythology, the spruce is the sacred tree of Artemis, Goddess of the hunt.
In shamanic traditions, the spruce is seen either as the place where great shamen are born (The Yakuti people of Eurasia) or where they end their days (the Hopi believe the tree embodies the spirit of a wise and ancient medicine man who turned himself into a tree at the end of his life).
In Switzerland Spruce trees are believed to be inhabited by a spirit of the forest known as “the wise man of the forest”, who watches over livestock and brings prosperity.
A Very Variant Christmas
Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.
The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?
Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.
Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.
Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.
Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.
Themes Christmas; superheroes; reunions; parties; life choices; shocking surprises; mistaken identity; kidnap and rescue.
Reasons not to read it
- It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
- It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
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