  "Solitary tree in the Ronda Mountains, South Spain" (2).
| Abies pinsapo Boiss. 1838Common NamesSpanish silver spruce (2), Spanish fir (3).Taxonomic notesSyn: A. hispanica Champ., A. baberiensis Mortet, A. lusenbeana Hort. & Angl. (3). Some authorities (e.g., (1)) treat the African populations A. tazaotana and A. marocana as varieties or subspecies.Description"A tree up to 25-30 m high and up to 1 m in diameter. Crown conical. Branched to the ground, branches horizontal. Bark dark gray, on older trees longitudinally fissured. Shoots red-brown, glabrous. Buds ovate, obtuse-rounded, very resinous. Needles arranged radially around the shoots, thick, tough, 8-15 mm long, twisted from base to the apex, dark green, slightly pointed, upper surface with stomata and lower side with 2 whitish stomata bands; persisting on the tree for 11-13 years; resin ducts medial and this is what distinguishes this fir from the two related African firs, A. marocana and A. tazaotana. Flowers appear in April and May, male strobili dark red and female inflorescences brown-green, 2-3 cm long. Cones cylindrical, 10-16 cm long, 3-5 cm thick, light brown, maturing in September and October; seed scales 2.5 cm wide, triangular, with entire margin; bract scales only 1/4 to 1/3 of the length of seed scales and do not protrude. Seed obovate, 6-10 mm long, while the wing is twice this size; 1000 seeds weigh cca 50 g. Cotyledons 5-8" (3).RangeS Spain: indigenous only in a limited and disjunct range in the Sierra de Ronda (part of the Cordillera Penibetica) (4), at 1000-1800 m. "As opposed to the silver fir it tolerates dry and warm sites. It can grow on various types of soil and it is quite adaptable in this regard" (3).Big TreeOldest"This fir can attain an age of over 300 years" (3).DendrochronologyEthnobotanyObservationsRemarksAbies pinsapo var. pinsapo is listed as rare on the 1996 IUCN Red List (available at various places online; use your search engine)."Seed bearing begins in the 25th to 35th year. Trees in natural stands in Spain bear a full seed crop every 3 to 5 years. Solitary plants may yield as much as 100 kg of cones per tree. 1 kg of cones contains 8-9 cones out of wich [sic] 250 g of seeds is extracted, i.e. cca 500 seeds. On the average, about 20,000 seeds are contained in 1 kg. Germination rate is, according to data from Spain (Catalan and Pardos, 1977) 50-60 percent, while in trees which are grown in other countries it is somewhat less. This fir may be successfully propagated by grafting" (3). Citations(1) Silba 1986.(2) van Gelderen et al. 1986. (3) Vidakovic 1991. (4) E-mail communication from Gines Garcia Galera, 28-Mar-1998. (5) Atlas Florae Europaeae 1998. |
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