Picea brachytyla

The Sargent Spruce ( Picea brachytyla ) is a plant of the family (Pinaceae ). It is in China, in the northern Myanmar, native to northeastern India and Bhutan.

Description

The Sargent spruce grows as evergreen tree, the plant height of 30 to 50 meters and diameter at breast height can reach 1-2 meters. The pyramid-shaped crown with age irregularly cylindrical. The branches are drooping. The gray to gray -brown bark is divided lengthwise into thick, square, separated by cracks plates. But you can peel off in irregular-shaped flakes. The bark of the branches is pale yellow to brownish yellow and discolored with age over brownish yellow to brown, to a gray color.

The winter buds are ovoid to conical- ovoid. The straight or slightly curved, flattened needles are 1 to 2.5 inches long and between 1 and 1.5 mm wide. They are easily keeled on both the top and on the bottom and its end is pointed or mucronate. On the upper leaf surface there are two white or pale Stomatabänder each with five to seven Stomatalinien. The needles are lightly pressed against the branch tops. At the lower side they are arranged projecting to approximately comb- shaped.

The heyday of the Sargent Spruce is from April to May, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The pins are elongated ovoid shape, with a length from 6 to 12 centimeters and a thickness of 3-4 centimeters. They are initially green or red to purple- brown and discolored to brown towards maturity and can have a purplish cast. The seed scales have a wedge-shaped base and are oblong obovate to rhombic, with a length from 1.4 to 2.2 centimeters and a width from 1.1 to 1.3 centimeters. The outer scale margins are usually bent back, but can also be extended. The seeds have a wing and are great with this approximately 1.2 centimeters.

Distribution and location

The natural range of the Sargent - spruce extends from China to the North of Myanmar to the located in India and Bhutan, Assam Himalayas. In China, includes the distribution area of ​​the southern Gansu, southern Shaanxi, the northwestern Hubei, Sichuan, northwestern Yunnan and the southeastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The Sargent spruce grows at altitudes 1300-3800 meters. The species grows in cool and humid, characterized by the monsoon climate forests on mountain slopes, in valleys and in river valleys. The annual rainfall varies depending on the location 1000-2500 mm. They are found mainly on gray-brown podzolic soils in mountainous areas. Mixed stands are formed mostly with fir (Abies ), with Larix potaninii, Picea likiangensis and various hemlock ( Tsuga ). In the western Sichuan to find the kind together with the Red China birch (Betula albosinensis ), shrubby growing bamboo species as well as with various rhododendron (Rhododendron ).

Use

The wood is used as construction timber and for the production of aircraft, machinery and paper use. The Sargent Spruce is used for reforestation.

System

The Sargent Spruce is allocated within the genus of spruce (Picea ) the subgenus Picea and the Section Omorikae.

The first description as Abies brachytyla was made in 1899 by Adrien René Franchet in Journal de Botanique ( Morot ), Volume 13 (8 ), page 258 Ernst Georg Pritzel transferred the species in 1900 in Botanical yearbooks for systematics, plant history and geography of plants, Volume 29 ( 2 ), pages 216-217 as Picea brachytyla in the genus Picea.

The species is divided into up to two varieties:

  • Picea brachytyla var brachytyla is the nominate form. She has a longitudinally fissured, gray bark and immature cones are green. It occurs in China. Synonyms are ascending Patschke Picea, Picea and Picea pachyclada Patschke sargentiana Rehder & EH Wilson.
  • Brachytyla Picea complanata var ( Masters) WC Cheng ex Rehder occurs in China and in northern Myanmar and probably also in Bhutan. She has a pale gray to gray, peeling bark in irregular scales and the immature cones are red to purple- brown. A synonym is Picea complanata Masters.

Threats and conservation

Both the Sargent Spruce and the variety Picea complanata var brachytyla be classified in the IUCN Red List as "vulnerable". As Hauptgefährundsgrund strong timber felling are called. However, it is pointed out in both entries, that a reassessment of the risk is necessary.

Swell

  • Christopher J. Earle: Picea brachytyla. In: The Gymnosperm Database. www.conifers.org, November 23, 2012, accessed on 16 March 2013 ( English).
  • Liguo Fu, Nan Li, Thomas S. Elias & Robert R. Mill: Pinaceae. Picea. In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan (eds.): Flora of China. Cycadaceae through Fagaceae. Volume 4, Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis in 1999, ISBN 0-915279-70-3, Picea brachytyla, p.31 ( this printed work is the same text online, Picea brachytyla - Online).
Assam-Himalaya
978
de