Very peculiar! Looks very like cones with a leafy peduncle of this year's new foliage . . . never seen that on a spruce before.

Can you get some clearer shots showing the cone's attachment to the branches?

Resin

Resin, I'll see what I can do - it's pouring down rain today, so....

One of my Puschy....

Jan wbgarden

Here is a link that might be useful: Dwarf conifers garden

And another

{{gwi:711605}}

nice pics by all

Thanks! Yep, very unusual, having the cones on the apex of the new growth, not on the previous year's growth.

Resin

Nice photos gang!

The Norway spruce cultivar called 'Acrocona', also produces its cones at the end of the current year's growth.

--Spruce

"The Norway spruce cultivar called 'Acrocona', also produces its cones at the end of the current year's growth."

Not the one I photographed for "The Cone Game" thread. The cones are clearly developing on the previous year's growth. No new foliage on the tree at the time of the photo. I wonder if they do also set cones on the new growth? I'll keep an eye out for that this year for sure.

Link is to "The Cone Game" thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out #1 and #7

rcsmith:

Interesting: I am growing one, or what I was told was one when I bought it. It is still very small, but is producing cones and they are clearly at the end of this yearÂs new shoots. I went out today to buy a digital camera, but got sidetracked. It wonÂt be long!

Anyway, whatever I have seems to me to be a Norway spruce--could I be fooled? Yes, maybe. Could I be fooled about the cones being borne at the ends of this yearÂs growth--absolutely not! Now my tree is very, very young--maybe two feet tall now. Could it be that this cone production from this yearÂs growth is something that happens only on very young ones?

--Spruce

Spruce - You're right! I've got cones all over last year's growth AND at the ends of some of the new growth now! I've never really paid that much attention to it before. Fascinating!

Rc, "Not the one I photographed for the "Cone Game". That's part of why your post gave me fits. When I saw it, I originally thought #1 was 'Acrocona', but when I saw #7, I really thought it was 'Acrocona'. I convinced myself that I was wrong on #7 because I didn't see new growth just below the cone and couldn't account for the closed buds and lack of growth just below the cone on a relatively immature cone, which I would have expected by now.(Another name for 'Acrocona' is "Early Coning Spruce") One of the unique things about 'Acrocona' is that it has cones at different stages of development. Dan

rc and dan:

Very interesting. Maybe the reason my little thing has cones only on the new shoots is because it is so young--not enough older shoots yet. I had a chance to get a larger one of these this spring at a local nursery, but didn't. They are very slow, so I won't see all this thing can do for several more years.

One reason I didn't go for another larger 'Acrocona' was because I thought I already had one. A number of years ago, twice, I collected scionwood from an absolutely spectacular weeping NS I found and sent them to someone for grafting, but each time there was some mix-up and what I wanted grafted apparently wasn't. And now the parent tree is gone. But, one of the mix-up grafts I got I thought was 'Acrocona'--until this year. This thing is a very strange duck. For two years it seemed to "cone" like 'Acrocona', or so I thought, but this year only two cones, none on new growth, and none on either of two potential leaders. It is now looking like some form of weeping NS--'Inversa' or somthing (but maybe not really), but nothing like the tree I cut scionwood from. I will let it develop for another year or so, and then I will post pictures and try to find out what I have. Or could this still be 'Acrocona', with only two cones and very, very weeping branchlets?? It also may be growing too fast--it is 6 fet tall about 8 years after grafting. That's too fast for 'Acrocona', right?

--Spruce

To wbgarden: your "Push" is the grafted one, I think. It grows faster and has more open habit. If propagated from cuttings, at the begining it is veeery slow, but much more dense (and the cones - much smaller, like berries).

To spruceman: "Maybe the reason my little thing has cones only on the new shoots is because it is so young--not enough older shoots yet." No. I have 2 "Acroconas". One of them (younger) this year had the first cones - and ALL on the older shoots. So was with the older "Acrocona" - several years it had ALL cones on older shoots. But this year - an exception: ALL cones are on young shoots!

Yes, this Pusch was grafted maybe some 12 years ago, but next photo - Pusch is in left corner and was cutting about 20 years ago. Habit is probably the same, cones looks smaller... I´v found only this picture, maybe tomorow I´ll do better photo. It is rainy weather now...
Jan wbgarden

Here is a link that might be useful: wbgarden

kleckas, rc and dan:

Thanks for all the info--these things are interesting to watch--not knowing exactly what to expect.

--Spruce

Picea abies Push is my favorite spruce

The cultivar name is 'Pusch' - not push :-))