Abies bracteata
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A. bracteata
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| Abies bracteata (D. Don) A. Poit.
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| Abies bracteata native range | |
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The bristlecone fir or Santa Lucia fir (Abies bracteata) is a rare fir, confined to slopes and the bottoms of rocky canyons in the Santa Lucia Mountains on the central coast of California, USA. A small remnant community exists on the highest northern slopes of the Santa Susana Mountains in Southern California.[citation needed]
It is a tree 20–35 m tall, with a slender, spire-like form. The bark is reddish-brown with wrinkles, lines and resin vesicles ('blisters'). The branches are downswept. The needle-like leaves are arranged spirally on the shoot, but twisted at the base to spread either side of the shoot in two moderately forward-pointing ranks with a 'v' gap above the shoot; hard and stiff with a sharply pointed tip, 3.5–6 cm long and 2.5–3 mm broad, with two bright white stomatal bands on the underside. The cones are ovoid, 6–9 cm long (to 12 cm including the bracts), and differ from other firs in that the bracts end in very long, spreading, yellow-brown bristles 3–5 cm long; they disintegrate in autumn to release the winged seeds. The male (pollen) cones are 2 cm long, shedding pollen in spring.
A popular ornamental, it can be seen in many arboreta (Gymnosperm Database).
References
- Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Abies bracteata. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
- Gymnosperm Database: Abies bracteata
- Photos of foliage
Further reading
- Rogers, David Perfect Pattern of Silvan Perfection on the Symmetrical Plan, the Rare Santa Lucia Fir (1998)
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External links
- Pages with broken file links
- IUCN Red List conservation dependent species
- Articles with unsourced statements from January 2015
- Abies
- Endemic flora of California
- Trees of the Southwestern United States
- Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
- Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
- Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
- Santa Lucia Range
- Santa Susana Mountains
- Natural history of Los Angeles County, California
- Natural history of Monterey County, California
- Natural history of San Luis Obispo County, California
- Los Padres National Forest
- Monterey Ranger District, Los Padres National Forest
- Conservation dependent plants
