Abies pinsapo

Spanish Fir (Abies pinsapo )

The Spanish Fir or Pinsapo fir (Abies pinsapo ) is a plant of the family (Pinaceae ). It occurs only in southern Spain and Morocco. The maximum age of individual specimens is 250 to 300 years.

• 6.1 Notes and references

Description

Habit

The Spanish Fir grows as a evergreen tree, the plant height 25-30 meters and trunk diameter ( DBH ) of up to 1.5 meters reached. The tree crown is dense, dark green and pyramidal. It can range in free- standing trees to the ground. The branches are a threesome in whorls and are available from horizontal. They wear red-brown, bare branches. The trees have in stocks closed mostly a straight trunk during free standing trees usually grow crooked and zwieselig. Seedlings have five to eight cotyledons.

Buds and needles

The winter buds are 3-4 mm long, obtuse and strongly resinous.

The needles are quite rigid and non- stinging. They stand around the branch, are provided on the top blue-green and on the bottom with two white Stomabändern. The needles are 6-16 mm long, shorter in the upper crown area. They have a flattened rectangular cross-section and no marginal resin canals. The slit openings occur at the top. The needles remain up to 15 years on the tree.

Bark

The bark is gray to white gray and smooth on young stems. In old age, a longitudinally cracked, almost black Schuppenborke forms.

Wood

The wood is white, sapwood and heartwood are the same color. There is no primary resin ducts, after injuries traumatic resin canals are formed. The change between late and early wood is distinctive which is why the annual rings are clearly visible. The bulk density of 0.339 to 0.537 g/cm3.

Root

The roots are near the surface of the natural sites, long and thick. In loose substrates, the Spanish fir is a highly branched taproot.

Flowers, cones and seeds

The Spanish fir is like all fir species monoecious - getrenntgeschlechtig ( monoecious ). The first flowering occurs from 25 to 35 years. The male cones are located primarily in the lower crown areas. They are ovate, green at first, during anthesis purple and later brown. The female cones are formed in the upper crown area. They are sessile, at first green, then brown, green and stand upright. Pollination is in the spring, fertilization in early summer.

The mature cones are up to 16 centimeters long, cylindrical, obtuse above and have a diameter of 3 to 4 centimeters on. The seed scales are 2.5 inches wide, wedge-shaped at the base and cover the bracts. The trockenhäutigen, spatula-shaped and provided with a serrated edge Deckschuppen have only a quarter to a third of the length of the seed scales. With the mature seeds, the cone scales fall off, the tree remains only the neck spindle. The seeds are released at the end of summer or in autumn.

The seeds are 6-8 mm long, triangular with one twice as long and about 1 inch wide wings. A tree is up to 8 kg pins in less than 1. One kilogram corresponds to 8-9 pin and around 250 seeds. The thousand grain weight is 45-67 grams.

Occurrence and ecology

The Spanish fir occurs only in a few areas before in Spain and Morocco. The largest part of the area is approximately 1000 hectares in the Natural Park of the Sierra de las Nieves in the province of Málaga in an altitude 900-1500 meters. In the Sierra Bermeja, there are two stocks, each with about 50 acres, in the Sierra de Grazalema in Cadiz province around 200 hectares in 1000 to 1600 meters. In Morocco, it comes in the western Rif mountains south of Tetuan before on the local limestone mountains at altitudes 1500-2000 meters.

The natural sites are in winter and spring from the Atlantic climate, influenced in summer and autumn by the Mediterranean climate. The rainfall can reach values ​​of up to 2000 mm, the extreme temperatures are -8 and 36 ° C. Wind and snow cover will endure.

The Spanish fir is considered mesothermisch and subhydrophil: it mainly grows in moist, shady areas, but needs more light and endure more drought than the other Mediterranean fir species. The collections grow over limestone and peridotite, but also to adapt to other floors. In Spain, it usually grows on steep, north to north-east facing slopes, in Morocco rather high levels and in shallow valleys.

In their natural habitats stocks forest fires are exposed. The removal of competing shrubs and grasses by fire or grazing is necessary for natural regeneration. In addition to the establishment of seedlings several rainy years necessary.

Use and protection

Due to the small area, the Spanish fir forestry is of no importance. In 1900, nor the Spanish fir was in 100 - to 120 -year-old managed Umtrieb, the wood income was 1-4 Meter3 per hectare per year. The mechanical properties of wood are not very favorable. Because of the resistance to rot, it was used for piers and railway sleepers. Today, the management with the goal of preservation of the species occurs Pinsapo The forests are also the habitat of the southern subspecies ( Capra pyrenaica hispanica ) of the Iberiensteinbocks. Due to the characteristic foliage, the species is a popular ornamental tree. In this function dominates the variety, glauca '.

Pests

As the congregation harmful fungi Armillaria ( Armillaria mellea ), the root fungus ( Heterobasidion annosum ) and Rhizosphaera oudemansii are called mainly that can cause failures in places.

When pests are called bark beetles mainly, with the type Pityophthorus pinsapo lives only on the Spanish fir.

System

The first description of Abies pinsapo was Pierre Edmond Boissier in 1838 Bibliothèque Universelle de Genève, 13, pp. 406 Abies pinsapo belongs to the section Piceaster in the genus Abies.

Some authors Abies Abies tazaotana Marocana and are listed as subspecies or varieties of Abies pinsapo ( here as varieties ). Abies × insignis is a naturally occurring hybrid between the Spanish fir and Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana ). The hybrids Abies × masjoanii arose at a specific intersection of Spanish fir with the silver fir (Abies alba) and is used as ornamental tree in parks and gardens. In a stock in the Sierra de las Nieves, a mutation was discovered with yellow male cones.

From Abies pinsapo has three possible varieties:

• Abies pinsapo Boiss. var pinsapo ( Syn: Picea pinsapo ( Boiss. ) Loudon, Abies hispanica Chambray, Pinus pinsapo ( Boiss. ) Antoine, Pinus sapo d' Ounous, Abies pinsapo var hispanica ( Chambray ) H.Christ, Abies pinsapo eupinsapo subsp. . . Mairein, Jahandiez et Maire nom inval, Abies pinsapo subsp hispanica ( Chambray ) Maire ): It is native to Spain.
• Abies pinsapo Boiss. var Marocana ( Trab. ) Ceballos et Bolaño ( syn. Abies Marocana trot. ): It is native to Morocco.
• Abies pinsapo Boiss. var tazaotana ( S.Cozar ex Villar ) Pourtet ( syn. Abies tazaotana S.Cozar ex Villar, Abies pinsapo subsp tazaotana ( S.Cozar ex Villar ) R.Govaerts. ):

Swell

• José Pardo, Marta Pardo: Abies pinsapo. In: Peter Schütt, Horst Weisgerber, Hans J. Schuck, Ulla Lang, Bernd vocal, Andreas Roloff: Encyclopedia of conifers. Dissemination - description - Ecology - use; the great encyclopedia. Nikol, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-933203-80-5, pp. 69-76.
• Christopher J. Earle: Abies pinsapo. In: The Gymnosperm Database. February 24, 2011, accessed on 24 October 2011 ( english, Section Description and systematics).