Picea koyamae - A rare spruce native to the Akaishi mountains of Japan.

A long-term project to re-populate an endangered species. Koyama's spruce is native to a mountain range on the central island of Japan, Honshu. Growing in small stands in an area less than 100 square kilometers, it is a hard to find specimen. It is said that the population of mature trees in Japan stands at no more than 250 trees.

Collecting cones is the easy part. Extraction, purification and weighing can be messy and time-consuming, but the end goal is worth it. Re-population of a rare species that can grow anywhere above zone 5 (-18C to -23C maximum cold temperatures). Koyama's spruce is a tall, fine tree much like a blue spruce. The cones even have an interesting and pleasant aroma.

Planting any spruce seeds requires patience. In about 3 weeks, the seedlings began to emerge. The tiny koyama seedlings took on the blue-green colour of its parents, very much resembling a miniature tree.

So far, 2 months into the experiment there remain several seedlings growing. A new batch has already started germination. Seeing the second set of leaves is always a good sign of a seedling's progress. We hope to plant these trees into the soil one day and let them grow to their maximum potential. One day they too will produce seed cones and rejuvenate the population of trees.

Available here: https://vegiseeds.com/collections/tree-seeds/products/tree-seed-koyama-spruce