Norway Spruce - Picea abies

The Norway Spruce tree (species: Picea abies) is native to most of Europe from the Pyrenees mountains north to Norway and east all the way to Russia and the Balkans. It is widely used as a Christmas tree as it is fairly easy to grow in a wide variety of growing conditions. It is also comercialy exploited for its wood which sometimes sold under the names "Baltic Whitewood" and "White Deal".{1} It is a soft wood that is used in paper production as well as in inexpensive furniture.
This tree species is also widely planted in parks and gardens as an ornamental tree. Among is many cultivars are; Pyramidata, Pendula, Inversa, Cupressina, Viminalis, Tuberculata, Argentea, Finedonensis, Laxa, Cincinnata and Cranstonii. In some regions that tree can reach heights of up to 45 meters (147 feet).
The top image above of the complete Norway Spruce tree was taken in southern Germany near the Black Forrest. The rest of the images were taken in the small ski resort town of "La Molina" that is a few hours drive north of Barcelona, Spain.
The cones of the Norway Spruce are long and thin (they get a bit wider at full maturity when the scales open up to release the seeds). Most of the cones that I have seen are 4-6 inches in length. They are the longest of the Picea genus.
Common names for this tree in other languages; Spanish- Picea común or Picea de Noruega, French - épicéa commun, Italian - picea comune, German - Fichte.

Check out a Norway Spruce tree in Madrid that has been taken over by green parrots.

1. Arboles de España y de Europa, David More and John White, Ediciones Omega. 2003.

Nordmann Fir - Abies nordmanniana

The Nordmann Fir tree (species name: Abies nordmanniana) is a popular Christmas tree species because of its dark green color, its dense foliage, its rounded needles and its drought resistance which keeps the needles from falling off too soon.
This fir tree species that also goes by the names Caucasian fir or Turkish fir is an evergreen coniferous tree native to the mountains from Turkey to the Rusian Caucas region. I took these photographs in the small ski resort town of "La Molina" in the Pyrenees mountains of Catalunia, Spain. The altitude at this location is 1700 meters above sea level.

As you can see from these images the needle like leaves have a different color pattern on the top and the bottom of the leaves. On the top side they are a solid dark green while on the bottom side they have two whitish lines down each side (another way to describe it is that there are white on the bottom with a dark treen border and a green line down the middle of the flat leafe. These leaves were about 2cm long. Notice also that the leaves are rounded on the ends and even have a slight apex like notch as the ends of some of the leaves.

The cones of this fir species grow at the top of the tall trees but I was able to find a shorter tree with cones where I could get close enough to get a few good images. From what I have read these cones change color as they mature. These young cones had an almost dark blue-green color. The lighter brown colored "exserted bracts" are another distinctive feature of this tree.
The scales of these cones detach and fall off while the stem of the cone remains in the tree. Notice also that these cones grow quite vertical and straight. It is quite common to see a good number of these empty stems on the branches near the top of these trees.

The bark of the Nordmann fir is light gray in color and fairly smooth with blister like bumps.

For a fir tree that is native to Spain check out the "Spanish fir - Abies pinsapo".

Spanish Juniper - Juniperus thurifera

The Spanish Juniper (Juniperus thurifera) is a member of the Juniper family that is native to the Western Mediterranean region. In Spanish this tree is normally called "Sabina" but in some regions such as Segovia it is referred to as "Enebro" (Common Juniper). The pictures in this post were all taken in the "Enebral" (forest of Enebro) of Hornuez as it is called locally even though it is in fact a "Sabinal" (forest of Sabinas).

The seed cones of the Spanish Juniper (above) are round "berries" about the size of peas and change from green to dark purple as they mature. The male and female trees are seperate. The male trees have small polen cones (below) that look a lot more like what you would expect a cone to look like but are very small. I estimate that these were about 2-3 mm long. The ones on the left are new green cones and the ones on the right are mature cones that have released their polen.
The "leaves" of the Spanish Juniper are very similar to the Mediterranean Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) but are easily distinguished from the Common Juniper which has much more pointy, needle-like leaves.
I´m not really sure what the thing in the picture below is. I saw these growing on the female trees and I am guessing that it might be a precurser to the berry like fruit. If you know better please leave a comment.
The pictures below are of the young trees. The Spanish Juniper has considerable difficulty germinating and surviving as a young plant (the sheep and goats like to eat them) so they sometimes need a bit of protection like the one on the left.
The "Sabinal" or Spanish Juniper Forrest at "Hornuez del Moral" is an ancient forest with many very old specimens. Some of the locals say that the trees may be as old as 1,000 years but a more conservative estimate would probably be more like 500 years. At any rate they are some of the oldest Spanish Junipers in the world without a doubt.
This particular forest of Spanish Junipers is quite famous locally as a sight of a supposed aparition of the Virgin Mary. According to this tradition this forest is called the "Bosque de Milagros" or "forest of miracles".
Below is a synopsis of a sign that is located in front of the Hermitage (above) that still contains the famous Juniper trunk...

"Late one evening in the fall of 1243 a couple of shepherds, who were taking their flocks from Soria to Extremadura, stopped to spend the night at Hornuez (Segovia region) within eyesight of the peaks of Somosierra. They decided to make camp at the base of a Spanish Juniper tree and after gathering a bunch of dry branches tried to light a fire. But try as they would they were unable to get their fire going. After trying in vain some time the shepherds were shocked when the branches of the Juniper tree parted and revealed the radiant form of the Virgin Mary as if she was carved right into the trunk of the tree. It was the Virgin Mary who was keeping the men from lighting their fire at the base of this special tree. The shepherds ran into the nearby town and spread the word of the apparition. The site became well known and a hermitage was built to protect the special tree. Over the centuries the hermitage has been rebuilt until it reaches its current form as a very large "santuary" for the virgin and the supposed trunk of the original tree which the locals say has been miraculously preserved. Twice a year one the last Sunday in May and the second Sunday in September there is a "Romeria" (parading the statue of the virgin) at the site. Even though the population of the town is less than a few hundred there are over 1,000 members of the brotherhood that parade the virgin and several thousand show up for the May and September celebrations."