What is the difference between a Christmas tree and a pine tree?

Most people do not know the difference between a Christmas tree and a pine tree. As a rule, we think that we install a Christmas tree in our house before the New Year, but in fact, in most cases this is not the case. In our country, you can most often find Scots pine or Norway spruce.

What is spruce and what is pine?

Let's try to figure out the difference between a Christmas tree and a pine tree. Spruce ordinary is one of the largest coniferous trees, in height she reaches 25–30 m, but there are specimens even higher. The crown has a cone shape. The bark of an adult tree has a smooth gray structure. The coniferous cover is presented in the form of single needles that grow from axillary scales.

REFERENCE. Spruce is classified as a slow-growing tree species.

Scots pine is classified as a tree characterized by an average growth rate. The height of an adult beauty reaches 25–40 m.

REFERENCE. The lifespan of a tree reaches 200 years.

The needles are double and 5–9 mm long. They are located densely in single shoots.

What are similar between spruce and pine?

If we consider these two types of trees in detail, we can highlight the following parameters of similarity:

• Both belong to the pine family.
• The leaves are modified - needles.
• The cones grow at first in a vertical position, and then hang.
• Phytoncides are released.
• Used as a decorative decoration during the New Year holidays.

Opposites

Outwardly, to the average person, these types of trees seem similar, but from a botanical point of view, they are completely different. Let's look at the main opposites:

• Crown shape. It is similar only in the young period of growth; subsequently, the shape of the pine crown changes dramatically.
• The growth rate of pine is many times faster than that of spruce.
• Structure, color of bark. Spruce bark is thin and smooth, gray in color. Pine is thick and layered. As for the color, in the lower part of the trunk it is a gray-brown color, and closer to the upper branches the color becomes lighter.
• Spruce has single needles, but pine has double needles. Also, they are twice as long.

So what decorates our home for the New Year?

Based on the information above, we can answer the question - what do we install in the house on the eve of the New Year holidays? Most often it is pine. For the most part, it is pine trees with long needles and a crown of the appropriate shape that are sold at Christmas tree markets.

Now you know the main parameters of similarity and difference between these types of trees and you can easily distinguish what you are buying.