At the junction of Lorraine and Preumont, there are a few Norway spruces standing by. You cannot miss them. They are many decades old. Like the larch, they were planted as a possible cash crop, and I suspect they will one day be extracted as we move towards native species.
They are interesting nevertheless. The spruce that looks like a fir is the tree chosen each year by the Lord Mayor of Westminster and the Mayor of Oslo for Trafalgar Square, a gift given annually in thanks for British support during the Second World War.
Known locally as épicéa commun and fijnspar, it is surprisingly useful beyond timber production.
The young spring shoots are the star attraction. They taste citrusy and resinous, almost like lemon peel with pine. Traditionally they were used to make spruce beer or spruce ale, brewed as a tonic drink, to flavour syrups, honeys and sugars, and to infuse vinegar or spirits.
Mature timber was sought after by Stradivarius for violin wood, and the young shoots found use as a source of vitamin C to prevent scurvy in nineteenth-century navies. It has a second nautical connection too. Its straight growth made it valuable for ships’ masts.
Fijnspar.
To identify conifers, take a photo of bark, cone and leaf. AI in its various disguises can do the rest. Usually.