94,129
edits
Changes
From Gardenology.org - Plant Encyclopedia and Gardening Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to searchno edit summary
{{SPlantbox
{{SPlantbox
|familia=Pinaceae
|familia=Pinaceae
|genus=Abies
|genus=Abies
|species=pindrow
|species=pindrow
|common_name=West Himalayan fir
|common_name=West Himalayan fir
|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|max_zone=9
|max_zone=9
|image=Upload.png
|image=Abies pindrow.jpg
|image_width=240
|image_width=240
|image_caption=Pindrow Fir
}}
}}
The '''Pindrow Fir''' or '''West Himalayan Fir''' (''Abies pindrow'') is a [[fir]] native to the western [[Himalaya]] and adjacent mountains, from northeast [[Afghanistan]] east through northern [[Pakistan]] and [[India]] to central [[Nepal]]. It grows at altitudes of 2,400-3,700 m in forests together with [[Deodar Cedar]], [[Blue Pine]] and [[Morinda Spruce]], typically occupying cooler, moister north-facing slopes.
It is a large [[evergreen]] [[tree]] growing to 40-60 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 2-2.5 m. It has a conical crown with level branches.
The shoots are greyish-pink to buff-brown, smooth and glabrous (hairless). The [[leaf|leaves]] are needle-like, among the longest of any fir, 4-9 cm long, flattened in cross-section, glossy dark green above, with two whitish [[stomata]]l bands on the underside; they are arranged spirally on the shoots, but twisted at the base to lie in a flat plane either side of the shoot. The [[conifer cone|cones]] are broad cylindric-conic, 7-14 cm long and 3-4 cm broad, dark purple when young, disintegrating when mature to release the [[seed]]s 5–7 months after pollination.
The closely related [[Gamble's Fir]] (''Abies gamblei'', [[synonymy|syn.]] ''A. pindrow'' var. ''brevifolia'', ''A. pindrow'' subsp. ''gamblei'') occurs in the same area but on somewhat drier sites; it differs in shorter leaves 2-4 cm long with less obvious stomatal bands and arranged more radially round the shoot. The cones are very similar.
Pindrow Fir is used to a small extent for [[timber]] and production in its native range. It is occasionally grown as an ornamental tree in large [[garden]]s in western [[Europe]], but demands high humidity and rainfall to grow well. The name ''pindrow'' derives from the tree's name in [[Nepalese language|Nepalese]].
==Cultivation==
==Cultivation==
