Abies sibirica description

Trees silhouetted above Teletskoe Lake, Altai, Siberia [Vladimir Dinets].

European portion of the range of Abies sibirica (Atlas Florae Europaeae 1998).

photograph

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

Abies sibirica Ledeb. 1833

Common Names

Siberian fir (Vidakovic 1991).

Taxonomic notes

Two subspecies, the type (syn: Pinus sibirica (Ledeb.) Turcz. non Du Tour; Pinus picea Pall. non L.; Abies pichta J. Forbes; Picea pichta (J. Forbes) Loudon; Pinus pichta Fisch. ex Endl.) and semenovii (B. Fedtsch.) Farjon 1990 (syn: A. semenovii B. Fedtsch.; A. sibirica var. semenovii (B. Fedtsch.) Liu). There is also a widespread natural hybrid found in China: Heilongjiang, Abies × sibirico-nephrolepis Taken. & Chien 1957 (Farjon 1998).

Description

"A tree attaining a height of 30 m and a diameter of 50 cm. Crown conical. Bark gray-green, smooth, with numerous resin blisters. Shoots gray, slightly tomentose, with resin blisters. Buds greenish, small, globose and resinous. Needles grass green, directed upwards, slender, soft, those on the lower side of the shoot horizontal, 30-40 mm long, those on the upper side 10-15 mm long, all strongly aromatic, 1 mm wide, apex rounded or notched, with occasional stomata, and on lower surface 2 gray stomala bands. Cones cylindrical, 5-9 cm long, 2-3 cm thick, bluish before maturation; seed scales with dentate margin; bract scales concealed. Cotyledons 3-4" (Vidakovic 1991).

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

Range

Russia E. from Volga River and S of 67°40' latitude; Turkestan; Mongolia; China: Heilongjiang; at 1900 to 2400 m. Var. semenovii locally in Kyrgyzstan (Vidakovic 1991, Vladimir Dinets, e-mail 2-Jan-1998).

Big Tree

Teletskoye Lake, Altai Mts, Russia (39 m tall) (Vladimir Dinets, e-mail 2-Jan-1998).

Oldest

"This fir never exceeds an age of 150 to 200 years due to rot that sets in the wood" (Vidakovic 1991).

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Essential oils from its foliage are steam distilled for aromatherapy, perfumery, and related uses (Anonymous 2000).

Observations

Remarks

"It prefers cool and and moist climate. Although extremely resistant to frost, in Yugoslavia it is subject to late frost injury. Gases will also inflict serious damage. Propagation is by seeds and rooting of lower branches" (Vidakovic 1991).

Citations

Anonymous. 2000. Pine needle oil (Abies sibirica Ledeb.) Siberia. http://www.execpc.com/~goodscnt/data/es1005151.html, accessed 16-Mar-2000.