This Norway Spruce, the original Tanenbaum, is the December 2024 Tree of the Month, in National Land Institute’s Legacy Tree Program.
The Norway Spruce (Picea abies) is located in White Rock Cemetery (Ogle County.) Its height is 56-feet, with an average crown spread of 59-feet and circumference of 188-inches (15.6 feet.)
Norway Spruce is native to northern Europe from Scandinavia to the Alps. It is a characteristic tree of Germany’s Black Forest, and its cones [were] the pattern for cuckoo clock weights. Norway Spruce is the original “Christmas” tree and often the selected holiday tree that adorns Rockefeller Center in New York City, NY. One Norway Spruce in Sweden, “Old Tjikko,” is one of the oldest plants on the planet, cloning itself for 9500+ years! This species was brought to the New World with the colonists. They became a very popular evergreen to plant in cemeteries, where its evergreen nature symbolized eternal life. It was also a very popular windbreak tree planted, around many farmsteads across the Upper Midwest. It has significant cultural meaning and remains fairly popular in landscaping, as a well-adapted evergreen tree for this region.
White Rock Cemetery is located on the corner of North Church and East Mowers Roads one mile north of Kings, or about four miles south of the village of Holcomb. It was established after 1840; the first burial was Captain John Campbell, who was murdered by prairie bandits in 1841. The tree was probably planted early on in the cemetery’s history. Many of the settlers who came to the region were young Germans, who left their homeland to avoid the three-year period of service in the German army, which was required of all young men. They would have known this tree as native in their homeland. At some point this Legacy tree’s central leader was knocked out by a storm. That explains why this tree does not have the typical “Christmas Tree” pyramidal form.
Though not native, seeds from Norway Spruce cones are relished by many songbirds and wildlife, including squirrels. After a few of the regionally native evergreens including the Eastern Redcedar, Eastern White Pine, Red Pine, Eastern Hemlock, and Northern White Cedar/Arborvitae, it is a good tree for a sustainable landscape. It blocks winter winds and reduces energy consumption of dwellings. Alan Branhagen, NLI’’s Executive Director, said, “It grows fast, is quite windfirm, and long-lived, and appears to shrug off the increased vagaries of our weather better than other spruces from farther north. Norway Spruce occasionally naturalizes in our area, but is not invasive.”
Norma Swanson, the nominator of the Norway Spruce, has a long history and deep connection to the cemetery where this tree has grown to its present day size. In addition to living on a nearby farm in the rural area of this graveyard, many of her ancestors are buried there. She has attended Elim Reformed Church, adjacent to the cemetery, all of her life.
Norma said, “I could tell stories about so many of the people buried there. I have very fond remembrances of them.” White Rock Cemetery is also important to the community For as long as Norma can remember, an annual Veteran’s Day service has been held there to honor local veterans. She knows that people visit it regularly to remember their loved ones. Norma appreciates that it is a well-kept cemetery. She said there is a group that is currently cleaning headstones.