Abies guatemalensis description

These are young Guatemalan firs from Cordillera de las Cuchumantes, Guatemala [V. Dinets, e-mail 16-Dec-2003].

As above [V. Dinets, e-mail 16-Dec-2003].

Cone on Guatemalan fir at the above location [V. Dinets, e-mail 16-Dec-2003].

Also see this PHOTO at the CAMCORE website.

Abies guatemalensis Rehder 1939

Common Names

Guatemalan fir.

Taxonomic notes

There are two varieties, the type and var. jaliscana Martínez 1948.

Synonymy for the type (Farjon 1998):

Abies tacanensis Lundell 1940
Abies guatemalensis Rehder var. tacanensis (Lundell) Martínez 1963
Abies guatemalensis Rehder var. longibracteata Debreczy et Rácz 1995.
Abies guatemalensis Rehder var. tamaulipensis Silba 1997.

Synonymy for the variety (Farjon 1998):

Abies religiosa (Kunth) Schltdl. et Cham. var. emarginata Loock ex Martínez 1948
Abies flinckii Rushforth 1989

Description

"A conical tree 20-35 m. tall, 60-90 cm. in girth, with horizontal branches. Bark blackish-brown, divided into plates. Branchlets reddish-brown to deep blackish-red, pubescent. Buds globular-ovoid, resinous, to 5 mm. long. Leaves somewhat comb-like or nearly pectinate in arrangement, unequal, deepgreen above, glaucous beneath, 1.5-5.5 cm. long by 1.2-2 mm. wide; stomata usually absent above, in 8-10 lines below; resin canals 2, marginal; apex notched and emarginate. Female cones oblong-cylindric, apex pointed to somewhat flattened, yellowish-brown with a violet bloom, 8-11.5 cm. long by 4-4.5 cm. wide; scales oblong, broader than long; bracts hidden, about 1/2 height of the scale, cuneate-obovoid. Seeds light brown, nut to 9 mm. long, wing to 1.5 cm. long" (Silba 1986).

Range

The type variety in El Salvador, W Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico: Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas (Farjon 1998) at 1800-4083 m (Silba 1986). A. guatemalensis var. jaliscana in Mexico: Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, and perhaps Sinaloa (Rushforth 1989).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Illegal extraction of forest products is severely degrading the forest of Los Altos de San Miguel Totonicapán in Guatemala, which is said to harbor the largest and best-conserved stand of Abies guatemalensis in Guatemala (CONAP/INAB, 1999). Commercial harvest of fir branches is prohibited and punishable under Guatemala's Forestry Law (1996), but the high demand for fir branches during Christmas encourages people to illegally harvest this species. An estimated 70% of the firs in the regional forest have been affected to some degree by illegal cutting (ParksWatch 2004).

Observations

Remarks

This species is listed as endangered by the Mexican government (NOM-ECOL-059-94), is listed on Appendix 1 of CITES, and is protected from harvest in Guatemala (ParksWatch 2004).

Citations

CONAP/INAB, 1999. Diagnóstico de las poblaciones de pinabete (Abies guatemalensis R.) en Guatemala y estrategia para su conservación. Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas, Instituto Nacional de Bosques, USAID. Guatemala [cited in ParksWatch 2004].

Rushforth, K.D. 1989. Two new species of Abies (Pinaceae) from western Mexico. Notes RBG Edinb. 46(1):101-109.