Veitch's fir tree
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Veitch's fir ( Abies veitchii ) |
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| Abies veitchii | ||||||||||||
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Abies veitchii ( Abies veitchii ) is a plant from the genus of the fir ( Abies ) in the family of Pinaceae (Pinaceae).
description
Veitch's fir is an evergreen, relatively short-lived tree (around 100 years) that reaches heights of up to 25 meters. Veitch's fir forms a narrow, cone-shaped treetop , which in older trees usually becomes columnar. The branches from the lower part of the crown are often bent upwards so that the silvery undersides of the needles are visible; from a distance, the tree looks like frosted. The branches in the upper part of the crown are horizontal or bent slightly downwards. Veitch's fir is the fastest growing of all fir species in the first five years; in the 3rd year it grows about 15 centimeters, in the 4th year up to 60 centimeters. The budding does not take place until mid-June and is therefore the latest for all types of fir. The branches grow until August.
The bark is gray-brown to gray. It is smooth with horizontal lines and whitish spots on old trees. The trunk has deep grooves and forms large depressions under the branches. The bark of the branches is pale gray-yellow, slightly ribbed and more or less hairy. The buds are red to purple in color. All needles point forward to the branch tip. The needles are close together; they are dark green and somewhat shiny; underneath they have two broad, shiny, silver ribbons. The needles are up to 2.5 inches long; they gradually widen until just before the tip. The crushed needles smell of resin.
The male cones are small and spherical; they sit on the bottom of the branch. The female cones stand upright; they are 2 to 3 inches long and bright red. The resulting cones are 6 to 8 inches long and about 2.5 inches wide. They are purple-blue and cylindrical with 2 to 3 millimeters protruding cover scales. The ripe cones are brown. Even young trees are already setting cones.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.
Dissemination and use
Veitch's fir is native to only two islands in central Japan . Their natural area is an area of 60 hectares on the island of Hondo and the island of Shikoku .
Veitch's fir is not common in Central Europe , but can be found in parks every now and then.
Systematics
The first description of Abies veitchii was made in 1861 by John Lindley . The specific epithet veitchii honors John Gould Veitch , who studied the vegetation of Japan. Abies veitchii belongs to the section Balsameae in the genus Abies .
Two varieties can be distinguished:
- Abies veitchii Lindl. var. veitchii : It occurs on Honshu and Shikoku.
- Abies veitchii Lindl. var. sikokiana (Nakai) Kusaka (Syn .: Abies sikokiana Nakai , Abies veitchii subsp. sikokiana (Nakai) Silba ): This endemic is only on the Japanese island of Shikoku before. A few authors consider it a separate species.
swell
- Christopher J. Earle: Abies veitchii. In: The Gymnosperm Database. December 19, 2010, accessed on November 6, 2011 (English, section description and systematics).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Abies veitchii at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ↑ a b Abies veitchii in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Abies. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved April 7, 2019.
Web links
- Abies veitchii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: T. Katsuki, K. Rushforth, D. Zhang, A. Farjon, 2010. Accessed July 30, 2016th
- Abies veitchii var. Sikokiana in the Red List of Threatened Species of IUCN 2016 Posted by: T. Katsuki, K. Rushforth, D. Zhang, A. Farjon, 2010. Retrieved on July 30, 2016.