Abies bracteata


Abies bracteata 1.jpg


Plant Characteristics
Habit   tree

Height: 80 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 80.
Width: 20 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 20.
Lifespan: perennial
Origin: California
Cultivation
Exposure: sun
Features: evergreen, foliage
USDA Zones: 7 to 10
Scientific Names

Pinaceae >

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bracteata >


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).


Read about Abies bracteata in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Lvs. acuminate, dark yellow, green above and silvery below: cones 4 in. long, with long, slender bracts. Calif.

The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.



More information about this species can be found on the genus page.

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References

  • Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, L.H. BaileyCH

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