Abies mariesii

Maries fir (Abies mariesii )

The Maries fir (Abies mariesii ) is a plant of the family (Pinaceae ). It is endemic to the Japanese main island of Honshu.

Description

The Maries fir grows as evergreen coniferous tree that can reach heights of growth 24 to 26 meters and a trunk diameter of up to 2 meters. At the tree line, the species grows as 3 to 5 meters tall shrub. The straight stem ends in an oval or flattened at the top of the crown. The light gray or blue-gray bark is smooth with blue red Einsprenkelungen on. For older trees, it assumes an almost white color. Young twigs are hairy and have a dark brown to reddish- gray bark.

The spherical buds are reddish brown to gray- brown in color and slightly resinous. The needles are 0.8 to 2 inches long and 2 to 2.5 mm wide. They are spirally arranged and crowded at the top of the branches and overlap there is. The needle tip is either rounded or split. While the needle top is colored light green, resinous, the needle base on a blue- green - yellow to whitish color. At the bottom you will find seven needle Stomatareihen.

The Maries fir is monoecious - getrenntgeschlechtig ( monoecious ). It flowers in June. The approximately 15 mm long cylindrical male cones are dark reddish colored to yellowish red. The elliptical cones are flattened at the top and are 7-15 inches long and 4-5 inches thick. To maturity from September to October they are dark blue to black - brown. The inverted egg-shaped seeds are 6-9 mm long and are yellowish - red. Each seed has an 8 to 10 millimeters were wing, which is a light brown color on the top and pink on the bottom.

Distribution and location

The Maries fir occurs only in northern and central Honshu. They can be found there at altitude 100-2900 meters.

In central Honshu, the Maries fir sometimes forms mixed stands with Veitch's Fir ( Abies veitchii ).

System

The Maries fir is allocated within the genus of fir (Abies ) of section amabilis. The first description was in 1873 by Maxwell Tylden Masters in Gard. Chron water. 2, 12:788. A synonym for the species is Pinus mariesii ( Mast. ) Voss

Threats and conservation

The Maries fir is " not threatened " on the Red List of IUCN. It is noted, however, that a re-evaluation of risks is required.

Swell

  • Christopher J. Earle: Abies mariesii. In: The Gymnosperm Database. Accessed on December 27, 2010 (English ).
  • Alan Mitchell: The Forest and park trees in Europe: a field guide for dendrologists and nature lovers. Paul Parey, Hamburg / Berlin, 1975, ISBN 3-490-05918-2.
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