Abies sachalinensis

Scientific name: Abies sachalinensis  (F.Schmidt) Mast.  1879

Synonyms: Abies akatodo Miyabe ex Sarg., Abies nephrolepis subsp. sachalinensis (F.Schmidt) Vorosch., Pinus sachalinensis (F.Schmidt) Voss

Common names:Sakhalin fir, Hokkaido fir, Todomatsu (Japanese), Pikhta sakhalinskaya (Russian), Yayup (Ainu)

Description

Tree to 30(-40) m tall, or dwarfed at 2-3 m in exposed habitats, with trunk to 1 m in diameter. Bark grayish white, remaining smooth or breaking up into grayish brown scaly ridges with age. Branchlets densely hairy in the prominent shallow grooves between the leaf bases or overall. Buds 3-5 mm long, hairy and moderately to heavily resinous. Needles arranged evenly and densely out to the sides and above the twigs and hiding them, (1-)1.5-3(-3.5) cm long, intense bright green above, the tips blunt, rounded, or slightly notched. Pollen cones 10-15 mm long, red. Seed cones tapering strongly in both directions from the midpoint, (2.5-)5-7(-8) cm long, 2-2.5(-3) cm across, variously greenish brown through purple to black when young, maturing purplish brown. Seed body (4-)5-6 mm long, the wing half to two-thirds as long.

Sakhalin (hence the scientific name) and southeastern Kamchatka (Russia) to Hokkaidō (Japan). Forming pure stands or mixed with other conifers and hardwoods in subalpine, boreal, and mixed forests; (0-)100-1,650 m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

(As the assessment of the most widespread and abundant variety of this species is Least Concern, the species as a whole also falls into this category)

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.

Rootstock: Abies cephalonica