I hope someone does have a picture. The description from Rideau Woodland Ramble sounds interesting...

Picea omorika 'Pendula Snezna'
Light toned thin needles and strictly weeping branches set this Serbian Spruce apart from other weeping varieties. Has a fine texture and an elegant look. Use in landscapes where a narrow sentinel is needed.

tj

I have seen one and I can't tell much of a difference between pendula snezna and bruns pendula. Snezna might be very slightly tighter as a young plant, but I recall the two-tone coloration MUCH better on bruns. I find Bruns superior.

There are several good weeping forms of Picea omorika.
'Berliner's Weeping'
'Pendula'
'Pendula Bruns'
'Pendula Inversa Form'
'Pendula Kuck'
'Pendula Snezna'
'Radloff'
I prefer the 'Radloff' because it's a nice twisted form and the sidebranches are hanging straight down and it doesn't grow that fast.
The colour of the needles is also a nice mix of green and silvery blue.
I think it's from Hungarian origin.

Thanks Jaro for the translation. Good to know! The (small) one I have I got from a German plant collector (although not conifers specifically) who did indeed go to the Czech Republic to get the plant from a friend.

Hi Sprucebud,

I have a 2.5 foot plant here. Unfortunately it won't stoping blowing and/or snowing this winter. It will likely be buried until March before I could post a decent picture.

The branching is thinner than other pendulous types and the needles are less coarse (thin) and possibly a bit shorter as well. Looks like a fragile thing. Last summer Rich Eyre showed my a 4.5ft tree that looked quite nice. Strictly pendulous.

Personally, my "new" favorite is called "Weeping" a seedling selection from Pendula Bruns. Incredibly narrow 6-8inches (15-20cm)wide but full and 7 (200cm) feet tall.

Darren

Well don't hesitate to take some photos once yours are uncovered this rspring Darren, we'll be eagerly waiting to see them.

Will

If it got named after 1959 it should get a new name.

Hi bboy,

You are completely right.
Cultivars found after 1959 may not have a Latin name in it.
here is used the word 'Pendula'and is illegitimate.
This is also with the others I mentioned like:
'Pendula Bruns' must be only 'Bruns'
'Pendula Inversa Form' must have a complete new name.
'Pendula Kuck' must be only 'Kuck'
A lot of people don't know this, specialy in eastern Europe it's a big mess with new cultivars names, people there still give it names with 'Pendula', 'Fastigiata' and Latin colour names to these plants.
After 159 fantasy names must be used like 'Weeping....' or 'Hanging....' etc. wenn it comes to weeping forms.

"After 1959 fantasy names must be used like 'Weeping....' or 'Hanging....' etc.color>"

Just wait until these names come out in Czech, Polish, Hungarian, etc. :O)

I suspect that using Latin names is a concession to the English- French- or German-speaking world, where Slavic words might prove meaningless, and even difficult to pronounce....

It's looks to me that the quotation marks denote that it's a temporary name only. Darren is a professional.

I'm aware of how most "trial" plants are named, new witches' brooms for example and they are usually written using paranthesis. Picea omorika (Weeping).

Somebody just slapped a quick name on it and now the records need to be traced back to the originator so a new name can be passed along. That's why notes are important. Sometimes people just don't have a name or the time when rushing to the post office to send off scionwood.

Dax

"...'Pendula Bruns' must be only 'Bruns' ..."

Except in this case there already is a cultivar called 'Bruns' (not as strict weeping as 'Pendula Bruns').

tj

'Pendula Bruns is a legitimate name as it seems to have been listed before 1959. I find it hard to believe their are two plants from the Bruns Nursery in Germany with the same name if they are not the same plant!

Hi Bluespruce,

The World Checklist doesn't mention a year of founding in the second column, it's empty.
It mention that it's found around 1955.

My opinion in this case is that I hope 'Pendula Bruns'still will be used because as allready mentioned by you there are two Picea omorika cultivars with Bruns in their names.
Let me explain:
'Pendula Bruns': this is the pendula form a lot of people know and it's found by the famous Bruns Nursery in Germany.
'Bruns': This isn't a weeping form but a form with a normal habit which is much more silvery shiny then all the others.
It's not found by the famous Bruns Nursery but it originates from another small German nursery with the same name.

I just wanted to clarify the (Weeping)variety that I mentioned as a seedling selection of Pendula Bruns. This plant I believe is still on trial pending a new name and release to the public. As most of us know single descriptive names are not allowed for cultivars. I apologize for the error and not explaining in further detail earlier.

I believe that changing names for plants that have been in circulation for potentially 50 years should for the most be left as is - invalid or otherwise. There are 2 or 3 generations of growers and consumers that have grown accustomed and accepted the name and recognize the plant with that name as such. Changing names often leads to more confusion. Growers in my experiences in particular are extremely stubborn in changing their ways. There is no real benefit to them to change the name and some may feel they are at risk of losing customers/sales and only keeping the nit pickers, purists and botanically educated happy. There is a lot of "it doesn't really matter, they still sell" attitude in grower world.

New names for plants are particulary challenging now because of the the several languages used to name a plant which most often at some point leads to spelling errors and/or grammatical accentuations being left out because of not using the proper uni-code on computer keyboards. Who would take the time and effort to ensure every variety is properly listed and spelled correctly? English is easy for us here. But what about Slavic, French, and German languages. How many of us here is North America will properly put accents on French names, Umlauts on German names and Slavic characters in their label makers?

This issue I'm sure will last forever. There are hobbyists and growers across the planet doing their best to keep the nomenclature accurate but there will always be mistakes. Some will want to change them and others will not.

Will Picea omorika (mariana)Karel ever be changed? Everyone I talk to is convinced its mariana. I have bought and imported Picea glauca (abies) Cy's Wonder plants from Canada, US and Holland. I'm completely convinced that my oldest specimen now 18 yrs old is Picea abies not glauca.

A colleague that I know very, very well Joe Stupka named a plant Pinus strobus Southbridge Variegated. This plant is not strobus it is flexilis with the possibility that it is strobiformis. An older plant about to cone in Clinton, Iowa should resolve any doubt in the next year. I've asked Joe about it and he just shrugs his shoulders, "I found it in a parking lot with some white pine". But I highly doubt this name will ever be corrected. Many plant cultivars are mixed up with in the genus of Picea bicolor (alcoquiana) and Picea jezoensis. Some of these cultivars belong in the latter but I doubt that will change any time soon.

What a lot of it boils down to is documentation, understanding and accurate information from plant collectors, hobbyists and growers. Perhaps the databases of the conifer societies around the world can help with some of these issues. I do feel the onus is on the person or group who found it to always keep some sort of record on their shared or introduced plants to help clarify any future discrepancies.

As a plant collector and grower I do my best to be as accurate with my records as a possible as most, I'm sure are as well. There are mix ups in every genre of the flora world. Lilies from pre WWII are being renamed and marketed as new varieties and the list goes on.

But the other part of me as a plant fanatic (like many others), whether the name has an "s", parenthesis, genus mixup or not doesn't matter a whole lot at the end of the day because when I'm outside in my arboretum looking at it, I enjoy it for what it is - something very cool that someone found and shared with the rest of the world.

Darren

It would be nice if someone delved into the history of cultivated conifers,to unravel some of the mysteries and to find out where possible mix-ups or mistakes were made.
The only real practical problems arise when someone orders plants and receives something different from what he was expecting. T.

I agree Tunilla. Unfortunately, it happens all too often. I'm sure many of us have ordered or bought something only to find out (or not) later that it is a different plant. It is extremely difficult to control. Educating oneself seems to be the best control. This forum has helped me decipher "the plant substitution" code on a few of my plants I had doubts about.

Darren