Lonely spruce on mountain Tara in Serbia
The story about lonely spruce is, at the same time, story about great naturalist Josif Pancic(1814-1888). He was born on the 17-th of April 1814 in village Ugrine (former Austria-Hungary). He started studying in Gospic, where his uncle was a parish priest. He continued his education in Rieka, Zagreb and Pesta (Hungary). He received his doctorate in Pesta in 1842 with dissertation, written in Latin. He came to Serbia in 1846. He worked as a doctor(fisicus) in Negotin, Jagodina and Kraguevac.
During those years in Serbia he converted to orthodoxy ( it was connected with his wish to get a dismissal from Austrian-Hungarian monarchy in order to get Serbian citizenship), and changed his given name Josip to Josif. He married Lyudmila-Milka in 1849 and they had 7 children(because catholic church didn't existed, he got a license from Belgrade diocese of a metropolitan to marry according to orthodox customs in church in Kraguevac).As a respectable and honored scientist and pedagogue he was appointed as a professor in Department of natural sciences at Belgrade lycee in 1853. In 1878 he was appointed as a president of a Serbian scientist society. When Serbian royal academy was established in 1878 he was elected as the first president. In many natural disciplines he wrote the first works: on birds, on fish and grasshoppers for example, as well as om meteorite from Sokobanya. But, his greatest love was botany, field in which he worked for over 42 years. The most important works are: Forest trees and bushes, 1871 Flora in Serbian Principality, 1874 Addition to Flora in Serbian Principality, 1884 Materials for Flora in Bulgarian Principality, 1883 Flora in Belgrade surroundings, 1865-1892( 6 editions, of which the last one was posthumous).

As a professor he wrote many textbooks by foreign ones, which he translated and adapted to terms and needs of education in Serbia. He corresponded with the most famous botanists of his time ( as Roberto de Viziani- they wrote together some works). During 40 years of his work he discovered 121 species, 50 varieties, 7 forms, new for science. 64 species are accepted today.

The story about Josif Pancic begins in Bayina Basta in 1855. During his visit he heard from people, that tree grows nearby, conifer not alike any other, which they called spruce. In 1865 he got two spruce branches, but local residents in Bayina Basta could not show him where it grew, again. But on the basis of samples, he saw that it wasn't like any other conifer. Only in 1875 he succeeded to get to spruce trunks in Tara- mountain. After that in 1876 he published in German work on a new species Pinus omorika, considering it as a sort of pine. Only later great naturalist Purkyne shifted it to genus of Picea(spruce), which doesn't cease the importance of Pancic's discovery. Except in the middle course of river Drina, you can't find spruce anywhere else in the world and it has distant relatives in Asia . This wonderful tercet relic is verry tall and narrow tree. The endemic spruce grows on a small area in a junction of three borders: Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia, and one small population has been recently discovered in a canyon of river Milesevka.

Special thanks to Olja Vasic (Master of the botanical sciences), Custodian, Research assistant Natural History Museum

Also thanks to prof. Daniela Stevanovic for material collecting and translation

Josif Pancic and his spruce
Millions years ago, during warm tercet, spruce grew on a much bigger area. Under gust of bad conditions during the Ice Age, only shelter it found in the middle course of river Drina. Slender and graceful, it is dignified master of a steep limestone cliffs of Tara- mountain. Although it is easy to recognise it by characteristic narrow and elegant treetop, it has stayed far away from the botanists for a long time. History of discovery of spruce is very interesting. Our the most famous botanists, Josif Pancic, collecting plants in surroundings of Tara-mountain in 1855, heard story about unusual conifer. Local residents named that the tree spruce. But nobody could show to Pancic where it grew. Ten years later , Pancic got two branches of spruce. Then, he was sure, not only that spruce really existed somewhere, but also, that it was different from all conifers he had seen by that time. He tried to find tree the branches were taken from. Unfortunatelly, none could show him the place, again. He didn'give up, and finally, in 1875 after 20 years of searching he succeeded to find few trunks of spruce. It turned out, that this plant wasn't just a new species, unknown for science, but a tercet relic and local endemit also.(Vasic,O.(1977):Flora Srbije 120-121. In: Jovanovic Z.T.(ed.):Srbija-Eko Plus, Beograd).

The discovery of a new woody species in Europe unknown to science, provoked suspicion of a famous botanists of that age. They considered it impossible, because they thought that dendroflora of Europe was well known and there was nothing knew to discover. It cost Pancic many efforts to proove by facts, that he was right. And he succeeded. There is ruse in nomenclature related to spruce, which create unjustified feeling to some botanists, that Pancic was robbed. At the time when Pancic lived and worked classification and taxonomy of plants were not on today's level of knowledge. Many knowledges of that time got a new interpretations, which didn't, in most cases, disparage the importance of previous ones. Describing spruce as a new species for science , Pancic named it Pinus omorica, which meant, that he classified it in a genus of Pines. But, by it's characteristics omorica belongs to genus of Picea, which realized and revised Purkyne, therefore correct scientific name is Picea omorica (Pancic)Purkyne. To every taxonomy educated botanist is clear that the author of spruce species is Pancic, who knew to see the complex of charasteristics and to estimate to what extent this species was different feom related species, and Purkyne just did nomenclature revision. Therefore, all undisturbed glory belongs to Pancic.

Author:
Olja Vasic, Master of the botanical sciences
Custodian,
Research assistant
Natural History Museum

Translated by prof. Danijela Stevanovic from Belgrade