''Abies vejarii'' is a species of
fir native to northeastern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, in the states of
Coahuila
Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico.
Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
,
Nuevo León
Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...
, and
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
, where it grows at high altitudes (2,000–3,300 m) in the
Sierra Madre Oriental.
[Farjon, A. (1990). ''Pinaceae. Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera''. Koeltz Scientific Books .]
Description
It is a medium-sized
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
growing to 35–40 m tall. The
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are needle-like, moderately flattened, 1–2.5 cm long and 1.3–2 mm wide by 1 mm thick, grey-green with scattered
stomata above, and with two greenish-white bands of stomata below. The tip of the leaf is acutely pointed. The
cones
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...
are glaucous purple, maturing grey-brown, 6–15 cm long and 4–6 cm broad, with about 150–200 scales, each scale with a bract of which the apical 3–8 mm is exserted on the closed cone, and two winged
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
s; they disintegrate when mature to release the seeds.
[
]
Range and habitat
''Abies vejarii'' grows on steep mountain slopes near the summits and in cool ravines of the Sierra Madre Oriental, from 1,900 to 3,300 meters elevation. The climate is cool with wet winters and drier summers. It grows on soils typically moist but low in humus content. It is most often associated with pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
s and Mexican Douglas-fir
''Pseudotsuga menziesii var. lindleyana'', commonly known as the Mexican Douglas-fir, is a conifer in the genus '' Pseudotsuga'' that is endemic to Mexico. DNA sequence and morphological evidence suggests it is most closely related to Rocky Mou ...
(''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''lindleyana''), along with oaks, ''Cupressus arizonica
''Cupressus arizonica'', the Arizona cypress, is a North American species of tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the southwestern United States and Mexico. Populations may be scattered rather than in large, dense stands.
Descripti ...
'', and ''Picea engelmannii'' subsp. ''mexicana''.
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized:
Name
The species was first described in 1942.[''Abies vejarii'' Martínez]
'' Plants of the World Online'', Kew Science. Accessed 20 February 2023. It was named after Octavio Véjar Vázquez, Mexican Minister for Public Education at the time.
References
A Handbook of the World's Conifers by Altos Farjon
External links
Trees and Shrubs OnlineConifer Database
{{Taxonbar, from=Q147773
vejarii
Least concern plants
Trees of Northeastern Mexico
Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot