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Picea abies
CautionGemeine Fichte · (Picea abies)
Pine family (Pinaceae)
Description
In early spring, Norway spruce (Pinaceae) puts out soft, pale-green shoot tips traditionally gathered as young 'May tips'. Steeped in hot water they yield a tea rich in essential oils and vitamin C, drunk in folk medicine for cough, bronchitis and colds; the needle oil, high in bornyl acetate and alpha-pinene, is also inhaled or added to baths to clear the airways and stimulate circulation. Resin-based salves were traditionally used for wound care and as a warming rub for joint pain, while young cones preserved in sugar mature into a cough syrup. The bark additionally contains stilbenes such as astringin and the flavonoid taxifolin. Spruce essential oil must not be taken internally in asthma or obstructive bronchitis, and should be kept away from the face and chest of children under two.
Tea from fresh spring shoots (Maiwipferl): finely chopped young shoot tips are steeped in hot water for 5 minutes. The tea contains essential oils and vitamin C and is used in folk medicine for coughs, bronchitis, and colds.
Preparation & dosage
Add 1 tsp fresh, finely chopped spring shoots to 250 ml hot (not boiling) water, steep 5 minutes, strain.
- Dry amount
- 1–2 g
- Doses per day
- 3×
Steam inhalation using Norway spruce needle oil: the essential oil from needles and shoot tips contains bornyl acetate, borneol, α-pinene, and myrcene, acting as a mucolytic and antiseptic. Used in folk medicine for nasal congestion and respiratory infections.
Preparation & dosage
Spruce needle bath: needles and shoot tips are boiled and the decoction added to bathwater. Used in folk medicine for rheumatism, muscle pain, and colds. The essential oil stimulates circulation.
Preparation & dosage
Spruce resin salve: the resin (pitch) is dissolved in fat or oil and used as a wound salve, furuncle poultice, or rubefacient for back and joint pain. Monographed in the Austrian Pharmacopoeia as Emplastrum.
Preparation & dosage
Cone syrup: young green spruce cones are macerated with sugar or honey for several weeks to produce a syrup. Used in folk medicine for asthma, coughs, and sore throats.
Preparation & dosage
Sources: [1]
Fresh spring shoots as food: young shoots can be eaten raw or used as an ingredient in desserts and dishes. They are exceptionally rich in vitamin C (up to 407 mg/100 g dry weight), flavonoids, and condensed tannins.
Sources: [2]
Spruce bark extract: the bark contains stilbenes (astringin, piceatannol, piceasides), flavonoids (taxifolin), and condensed tannins. Extracts are applied topically for their antioxidant and cytoprotective effects.
Sources: [4]
Spruce essential oil must NOT be used internally in asthma, obstructive bronchitis, or whooping-cough-like coughs. Contact allergies to terpenes are possible. Resin may cause skin irritation.
Insufficient data available. Culinary amounts (spring shoots as food) considered safe; avoid therapeutic doses of essential oil.
Essential oils in therapeutic doses not recommended during breastfeeding.
Do not apply essential oil near the face or chest of children under 2 years (risk of respiratory spasm from terpenes). Spring shoot tea is safe for older children.
Contraindications
- Bronchial asthma and obstructive airway diseases (essential oil, internal use)
- Known hypersensitivity to terpenes or conifer extracts
Harvested part: spring shoots, resin
- Time of day:
- Morning, after the dew has dried
- Drying:
- Use fresh or dry at max. 40 °C in a food dehydrator to preserve vitamin C and essential oils. Freeze-drying is optimal.
- Storage:
- 12 months — Store dried material airtight in a dark place; freeze-dried material keeps for up to 2 years at -20 °C.
- Drying:
- Scrape resin directly from the bark and store in an airtight jar. No drying required.
- Storage:
- 24 months — Store resin cool and dark; keeps for years.
- BornylacetatEssential oilContent: 30-40 %Aerial parts
Main component of spruce needle essential oil; responsible for the characteristic needle scent; mucolytic and antiseptic.
- α-PinenEssential oilAerial parts
Monoterpene in needle oil; antibacterial and anti-inflammatory.
- AstringinPhenolic acidBark
Stilbene glucoside; main stilbene of spruce bark; antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Taxifolin (Dihydroquercetin)FlavonoidBark
Flavanonol from spruce bark; strong antioxidant activity; precursor to quercetin.
- QuercetinFlavonoidAerial parts
Flavonoid in needles and shoots; antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.
- Vitamin C (Ascorbinsäure)VitaminContent: 0.4 %Aerial parts
Fresh shoots contain up to 407 mg/100 g dry weight — significantly more than mature needles. Historically used to prevent scurvy.
- Diterpensäuren (Abietinsäure, Dehydroabietinsäure)OtherWhole plant
Main components of spruce resin; responsible for the antiseptic and wound-healing effect of resin salves.
- Kondensierte Tannine (Procyanidine)TanninBark
Astringent compounds in bark and needles; protective on mucous membranes.
- [1]MonographThe Importance of Pine Species in the Ethnomedicine of Transylvania (Romania) — Papp et al., Plants 2022(accessed: 2026-05-22)
- [2]MonographSprouts and Needles of Norway Spruce as Nordic Specialty — Jyske et al., Molecules 2020(accessed: 2026-05-22)
- [3]MonographExudates of Picea abies, Pinus nigra, and Larix decidua: Chromatographic Comparison and Pro-Migratory Effects on Keratinocytes — Goels et al., Plants 2022(accessed: 2026-05-22)
- [4]MonographThe Bark of Picea abies L., a Waste from Sawmill, as a Source of Valuable Compounds — Sut et al., Plants 2021(accessed: 2026-05-22)
- [7]MonographCliniTox Giftpflanzen — Picea abies (L.) H.Karst.: schwach giftig (+) (Institut für Veterinärpharmakologie und -toxikologie, Universität Zürich)(accessed: 2026-08-10)
- [5]BookPlants For A Future — Picea abies(accessed: 2026-05-22)
- [6]WikipediaGemeine Fichte (Wikipedia DE)(accessed: 2026-05-22)