Abies bracteata

Taxobox
name = Bristlecone Fir
status = LR/cd | status_system = IUCN2.3


image_width = 240px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Pinophyta
classis = Pinopsida
ordo = Pinales
familia = Pinaceae
genus = "Abies"
species = "A. bracteata"
binomial = "Abies bracteata"
binomial_authority = (D. Don) A. Poit.

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.

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

*
* [http://www.conifers.org/pi/ab/bracteata.htm Gymnosperm Database: "Abies bracteata"]
* [http://www.pinetum.org/sp/ABbracteata.htm Photos of foliage]

Further reading

*Rogers, David [http://www.ventanawild.org/news/fe98/slfirs.html "Perfect Pattern of Silvan Perfection on the Symmetrical Plan, the Rare Santa Lucia Fir"] (1998)