Abies homolepis

Scientific name: Abies homolepis Siebold et Zuccarini  1842

Synonyms: Abies brachyphylla Maxim., Abies finhonnoskiana R.Neumann ex Parl., Abies harryana W.R.McNab, Abies tschonoskiana Regel, Picea brachyphylla (Maxim.) Gordon, Picea homolepis (Siebold & Zucc.) Carrière, Picea pinnosa Mast., Picea tschonofskiana (Regel) Mast., Pinus homolepis (Siebold & Zucc.) Antoine

Common names: Nikko fir, Urajiro-momi(Japanese)

Description

Tree to 30(-40) m tall, with trunk to 1(-1.5) m in diameter. Bark gray, becoming browner and flaky with age. Branchlets hairless and shiny, deeply grooved between the leaf bases. Buds 3-5 mm long, moderately to heavily resinous. Needles arranged to the sides of the twigs in several rows, 1-2.5(-3.5) cm long, shiny dark green above, the tips sharply forked on young trees, simply notched or blunt on older ones. Pollen cones 10-20 mm long, yellowish brown. Seed cones (7-)9-12 cm long, 3-4 cm across, dark purple when young, ripening purplish brown. Seed body 6-9 mm long, the wing about as long.

Central Honshu, Kii Peninsula, and Shikoku (Japan). Occasionally forming pure stands but more often mixed with numerous other montane forest conifers and fewer hardwoods in the elevational belt between Abies firma and Abies veitchii; (700-)1,000-1,800(-2,200) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Near Threatened

(The fragmentation of the outlying populations with consequent reduction in population size and range in the recent past gives rise to the possibility of Abies homolepis becoming threatened in the future, especially if Japanese deer numbers continue to increase. Therefore the use of the Near Threatened category is justified)

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