Trees at Tiengboche, Nepal [Vladimir Dinets].
"[P]hotographed in Nepal on the Milke Danda Range" (2).
Common Names
East Himalayan fir (4).Taxonomic notes
Syn: Pinus spectabilis D. Don 1825; Pinus webbiana Wall ex D. Don in Lambert 1828; A. webbiana (Wall ex D. Don) Lindl. 1833; Picea webbiana (Wall ex D. Don) Loudon 1838 (5); A. chiloensis Hort.; A. chilrowensis Hort.; A. densa Griff. (4). Silba (1) describes a variety densa, while Vidakovic (4) describes a variety brevifolia."This species hybridizes freely with A. pindrow forming intermediate populations in the altitudinal middle zone of their common distribution" (4).
Description
"A tree attaining in the E. Himalaya a height of 60 m. Crown broadly conical. Branches horizontally spreading. Bark dark gray, rough and scaly. Shoots red-brown, deeply grooved, pubescent in the grooves. Buds large, globose, resinous. Needles on the upper side of the shoot arranged in several ranks, leaving a V-shaped depression between them, 2-6 cm long, with emarginate apex; upper surface dark green and glossy, with 2 broad stomata bands beneath. Cones cylindrical, 14-20 cm long and about 7 cm thick, violet-purple when young, later brown; seed scales 1.5-2 cm wide; bract scales concealed" (4).Range
Afghanistan: Hindu Kush; Tibet; India: Karakoram & Kashmir Himalaya; Nepal (5); Sikkim & Bhutan at 2500-4000 m (4).Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Observations
Remarks
"[V]ar. brevifolia (Henry) Rehd. — needles only about 3 cm long, stomata bands gray; shoots less grooved and gray, bark smooth. Occurs in the northwest Himalaya" (4).Citations
(1) Silba 1986.(2) van Gelderen et al. 1986.
(3) Vidakovic 1991.
(4) Jain, K.K. 1976: Introgressive hybridization in the West Himalayan silver firs. Silvae Genetica 25(3-4): 107-109.
(5) Farjon 1998.
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This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/pi/ab/spectabilis.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 22-Jun-1999