Abies nephrolepis description

A tree on the Shkotovo Plateau, Ussuriland, Russia. Said to be the world's tallest. Understory shrub is Microbiota decussata. [Vladimir Dinets].

photograph

Line drawing; for full size image go to the Flora of China (Wu and Raven 1999).

Abies nephrolepis (Trautr.) Maxim.

Common Names

Eastern Siberian fir, Khinghan fir (Silba 1986).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: A. sibirica var. nephrolepis (Silba 1986).

Description

"A narrowly pyramidal tree 25-35 m. tall, 0.75-1 m. in girth, with horizontal spreading branches and with a dense crown. Bark gray-white to light gray-brown, smooth, becoming shallowly fissured. Branchlets slightly grooved, pubescent, yellowish-white to yellowish-brown. Buds ovoid, hidden by the leaves, slightly resinous, violet-white; scales obtuse, slightly keeled; 10-13 mm. in diameter. Leaves pointing forward, covering the branchlet, pectinate below, linear, grooved above, flattened below, dark shiny yellow-green to dark green above, grayish-green below, 1.5-3.5 cm. long by 1.2-1.5 mm. wide; stomata usually absent above, in 4-5 lines below; cross-section elliptic, apex rounded or notched. Male strobili reddish-yellow. Female cone cylindrical, apex pointed with a short nipple, reddish-brown to dark violet, 4.5-8 cm. long; scales nearly horizontal, pubescent; bracts slightly exserted, rather broadly covering the scale; cone 1.5-2 cm. wide. Seed with a dark brown nut, wing violet-purple" (Silba 1986).

See Wu and Raven 1999 for a more detailed and current description.

Range

N China; Russia: SE Siberia; Korea; 500-2000 m (Silba 1986).

Big Tree

A specimen 34 m tall and 220 cm dbh is reportedly grows on the Shkotovo plateau, Ussuriland, Russia (see photograph). Trees with a larger diameter are reported from the vicinity of Lake Aitut near Komsomolsk, in the lower Amur Valley (Vladimir Dinets e-mail Jun-2000).

Common Names

Taxonomic notes

Description

Range

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

See Also