Abies nebrodensis
Abies Bailing
Called The Nebrodian Fir ( Abies Bailing ), also Nebrodes - fir or Sicilian fir, is a flowering plant in the genus of fir (Abies ) in the pine family ( Pinaceae ). It occurs only in the north of the island of Sicily.
- 5.1 Notes and references
Description
Vegetative characteristics
The Nebrodian fir grows as a small evergreen tree, the plant height 8-15 meters, and can reach diameter at breast height of up to 1 meter. The treetop grows wide - roundish to slightly flattened. The cracked and scaly bark is orange. The bark of the branches is gray-green to yellowish and has rarely a brownish pubescence on.
The 7 to 9 millimeters in size, oval - conical buds are reddish brown in color and sometimes covered by a thin layer of resin. The two lines and horizontally arranged on the branches needles are stiff, 1.2 to 2 inches long and 2 to 2.5 millimeters wide. At the top, they are colored blue green glossy dark green above and at the bottom. The needle tip can be both rounded and notched. There are nine to twelve Stomatastreifen at the needle base.
Generative features
The pollen grains have diameters of about 85 microns. The dark- brown cones are cylindrical with a length of 13 to 20 centimeters and a diameter of about 4 inches. The pin nose is rounded. The seeds are about 7 millimeters long.
Occurrence
The Nebrodian fir is found only on the island of Sicily. Today you can find only one occurrence on Mount Scalone in the Monti Madonie. It covers approximately 1.5 square kilometers. Their original distribution area included the Nebrodes, the area around Polizzi Generosa and Monte Cervo and Monte Polizzo.
The Nebrodian fir occurs at altitudes from 1400 to 2000 meters. There are colonized among other dry slopes. The soils formed mostly of limestone.
System
The Nebrodian fir is allocated within the genus of fir (Abies ) of section Abies.
Synonyms for Abies Bailing ( Lojac. ) Mattei are Abies alba subsp. Bailing ( Lojac. ) Nitz. , Abies alba var Bailing ( Lojac. ) Svoboda, Abies pectinata cast. non Gilib and Abies pectinata var Bailing Lojac ..
Threats and conservation
The Nebrodian fir is listed in the IUCN Red List as " critically endangered ". The main reasons for the low risk population size of 30 trees and the small area of distribution and susceptibility to forest fires is called.