Common Names

Iramomi, Matsuhada [Japanese] (Iwatsuki et al. 1995), Alcock spruce [Hort.] (Farjon 1990). Variety reflexa is called Shirane-matsuhada [Japanese] (Iwatsuki et al. 1995).

Taxonomic notes

Three varieties:

• Picea alcoquiana var. alcoquiana;
• Picea alcoquiana var. acicularis (Maxim. ex Beissn.) Fitschen in Beissner 1930; and
• Picea alcoquiana var. reflexa (Shirasawa) Fitschen in Beissner 1930.

Synonymy for the type variety (Farjon 1998):

• Abies alcoquiana Veitch ex Lindl. 1861;
• Pinus alcoquiana (Veitch ex Lindl.) Parl. in Candolle 1868;
• Picea japonica Regel 1865;
• Abies bicolor Maxim. 1866;
• Pinus bicolor (Maxim.) Parl. in Candolle 1868; and
• Picea bicolor (Maxim.) Mayr 1890.

Synonymy for variety acicularis (Farjon 1998):

• Picea acicularis Maxim. ex Beissn. 1891;
• Picea bicolor (Maxim.) Mayr var. acicularis (Maxim. ex Beissn.) Shirasawa 1913; and
• Picea shirasawae Hayashi 1969.

Synonymy for variety reflexa: Picea bicolor (Maxim.) Mayr var. reflexa Shirasawa 1913 (Farjon 1998).

Description

Monoecious. Evergreen tree to 30 m tall and 100 cm dbh, with a straight round trunk and long, slender, spreading branches. Bark purple-brown, soon scaly on young trees, maturing to gray-brown, fissured and peeling off in thick scales. Branchlets slender, red-brown, smooth, ridged and grooved, glabrous, with small pulvini 0.5-0.6 mm long diverging at 50-80° from shoot axis. Leaf buds 3-5 mm long, resinous, with triangular, brown, persistent scales. Leaves coriaceous, linear, quadrangular, 10-15 mm long, 1.5 mm across, acutely pointed on young trees, slightly pointed on mature trees, deep green, with 1-3 stomatal lines on ventral, and 3-6 on dorsal surfaces; resin canals two, marginal. Flowers May to June, solitary, terminal on previous year's shoots. Pollen cones 10-15 mm long, red turning yellow, with numerous stamens. Seed cones cones pendant, very short pedunculate, ovoid, red-purple before maturity, ripening in October to red-brown or pale brown, oblong or cylindric, (5-)7-9(-12) cm long, (2.5-)3(-5.5) cm across when open, scales loosely overlapping before maturity. Scales thinly woody, orbicular-ovate, narrowing upward, cuneate to base, 13-16 mm long and wide, denticulate on margin. Bracts very small, obovate, acute, slightly laciniate on margin, 3-4 mm long, 2 mm wide. Seeds oblong-obovate, blackish brown, ca. 4 mm long, 2 mm wide; wings brown, obovate or oblong-obovate, 7-10 mm long, 4-5 mm wide (Farjon 1990, Iwatsuki et al. 1995).

Variety acicularis is distinguished by having strongly curved, 1.3-2.5 cm long leaves and 6-15 cm long cones with a narrowed apex. It is in some ways intermediate between the type variety and Picea koyamai, with which it grows (Farjon 1990).

Variety reflexa is distinguished by having shorter leaves and smaller (4-7.5 cm long) cones with entire, apically narrowed and reflexed seed scales (Farjon 1990).

Range

Japan: on the Pacific Ocean side of C Honshu, at 1500-2000 m elevation in subalpine forests (Iwatsuki et al. 1995). The climate is cool, with snowy winters and 1000-2500 m annual precipitation. Soils are volcanic. Typically grows in mixed conifer forests with Picea jezoensis ssp. hondoensis, Tsuga diversifolia, Larix kaempferi. In some areas it is found with Pinus parviflora and Abies veitchii, and it grows at high elevations with Abies mariesii. Common angiosperm trees in these forests include Betula ermanii, Betula grossa, Sorbus commixta, Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata, Alnus hirsuta var. siberica and Prunus maximowiczii (Farjon 1990).

The distribution of the type variety is mainly in the Kanto Mountains and the Chubu Mountains; of var. acicularis, in the Yatsugadake Mountains; and of var. reflexa, in the Akaishi Range (Farjon 1990).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Var. acicularis provides a useful timber (World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Trees).

Observations

Remarks

Picea alcoquiana var. reflexa is on the WCMC Red List: vulnerable, population stable, known from fewer than five localities. "A few (<5) small populations in scattered locations are confined to the volcanic Akaishi range of central Honshu. They occur in mixed montane forest" (World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Trees).

Picea alcoquiana var. acicularis is also on the WCMC Red List: vulnerable, population stable, known from fewer than five localities. "Endemic to the Yatsugadake Mts. this variety is restricted to a small area (<100km²) of montane forest, most of it being state forest" (World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Trees).

Citations

Beissner, L. and J. Fitschen. 1930. Handbuch der Nadelholzkunde. 3. Aufl. Berlin.

See Also

Farjon (1990) provides good pen-and-ink drawings of horticultural specimens of each variety.