Ripe cone of Abies delavayi
Today’s taxon was originally going to be posted as Abies densa (the name on the label), but after reviewing the identification via Conifers Around the World, I’m nearly certain this is instead Abies delavayi.
The curatorial team for the David C. Lam Asian Garden now has to review my identification and determine whether I’m incorrect, whether the original identification was incorrect, or whether there was a label mix-up. The latter is the most likely scenario, as the Abies densa in this (much too large) garden bed grew from seed collected in Bhutan. Abies delavayi does not occur in Bhutan–its range is (via Conifers Around the World)
restricted to subalpine-alpine western Yunnan, eastern Tibet/Xizang, and Burma/Myanmar (3000-4300m) [~10000-14000 ft.]
Other accounts also include India and Vietnam in the range, but only on single mountain tops in each of these countries (and also suggest it can be found at slightly lower elevations).: Abies delavayi.
If not a label mix-up, then perhaps my identification is incorrect (with the possibility that it is neither Abies delavayi nor Abies densa). However, it seems to match Abies delavayi‘s distinguishing features nicely, at least in comparison to Abies densa: glabrous reddish-brown branchlets (these are greyish-yellow in Abies densa), revolute needle margins (vs. less recurved margins in Abies densa), and cones with broadly-winged, spathulate, exserted bracts that are recurved at the tip (compared to tapering bract tips in A. densa). It was fortuitous I managed to photograph all of these identifying features in one single image.
Assuming it is Abies delavayi, it is an IUCN Red List species of Least Concern. Economic uses include timber for construction, furniture, and wood pulp.
Lastly, a reminder that I am away for the next few weeks. I’ll try to post/schedule short entries every second weekday while I’m gone, but I don’t think I have the time for more than that.
Perfect example of “in beauty, science; in science, beauty” 🙂
Every day I view the botany photo I am reminded of the song “What a Wonderful World” … and the bright, blessed days and the dark sacred, nights … (“and I think to myself, what a wonderful world”).
What a wonderful reminder these photos are of the wonderful world we inhabit.
Thank you so much.
Safe travels.
That is very kind of you–and kind of so many to contribute photographs and comments (and the occasional write-up!) from around the world.
I am so thankful for this daily injection of plant knowledge, botanical verbiage and wonderful responses. The daily news is so dreadful and then I click this link to view plants that have been growing for centuries and feel a sense of calm that Mother Earth is in charge.
Have a wonderful trip Daniel.
I love it when you guys have a puzzle to solve except that you always solve them.
Another amazing photograph. Thank you. Hope you might have a chance to view the equinox from somewhere. Have a great trip.
Looks very much like the Abies koreana from my garden
SImilar, yep. Abies can be a challenge.
Abies koreana is more uniform in needle length, and a bit shorter by the looks of it. Abies koreana should also have shiny grey bark, or yellowish-brown turning purplish branchlets. You can see the shiny grey in your photo.
Great posting, great comments, what a wonderful world indeed, and what wonderful sharing around botany and around the world. Thank you for making it possible Daniel.
Bon voyage !
Thanks so much for your postings, Daniel! Helps to keep me grounded and to keep marveling at the plant world around us. Looking forward to seeing your posts when you return. Happy travels!
Perhaps sending to Aljos Feron at Kew Gardens will confirm. He may have seen the species in the wild. A nice photo.
All the best. Dennis W. Woodland
Thanks Dennis, I’ll have to forgive Mr. Farjon for not recognizing Juniperus maritima as its own species in his latest work first. (I am, of course, joking–we’d be happy to have his input, particularly if this has nothing to do with our own record-keeping)
Daniel, Thank you for the time and effort you put into these postings. You have a fan club in the SE US, too, and we love sharing your information, and the wonderful photos, with students and friends. Your splashes make large waves, and we look forward to seeing what waters you will dabble in next. Have a great trip.
According to the IUCN Red List the native areas for Abies delavayi are “SW China: W Yunnan, SE Xizang [Tibet]; NE India: Arunachal Pradesh; N Myanmar; Viet Nam (Fan Si Pan Mtn.)”. A delavayi var. motuoensis range: SE Xizang [Tibet] (Motuo), China, and Arunachal Pradesh in India. “This variety has a vast population.” They use as reference Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World’s Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42277/0
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/191554/0
Least Concern for the species and var. delavayi & motuoensis, in case anyone was worried. Near Threatened: var. nukiangensis, Critically Endangered: ssp. fansipanensis.
Arunachal Pradesh and SE Tibet both border directly on Bhutan and N Myanmar, N Myanmar borders on W Yunnan and the Si Fan Mountains are near the border of Vietnam and Yunnan. Bhutan does not seem like a stretch for an outlying population of A. delavayi var. motuoensis, especially if someone believed the books over the evidence of their eyes when classifying this specimen. A, delavayi var. delavayi is more eastern.
Frank Kingdon Ward reported in 1940 that “The Manda La is a long cross-ridge about 10,000 feet high. It is covered with forests of silver fir (Abies Delavayi) and tree rhododendron (R. Falconeri). From the north end of the ridge I had a glimpse of the snow-covered mountains of the Bhutan frontier to the west.” in “Botanical and geographical exploration in the Assam Himalaya” The Geographical Journal 1940 (XCVI: 1) 4. The Manda La is in Arunachal Pradesh. The town he mentions as directly below the Manda La, Dirang, is only 8 miles from the Bhutan border, as the crow flies, 51 miles by road. His route from Shergaon to Dirang more or less paralleled the border.
A specimen of Abies delavayi var. motuoensis is said to come from Tawang, now in Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh, about 30 miles northwest of Dirang and about 6 miles from the Bhutan border. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12886257#page/16/mode/1up
According to Tropicos the type specimen for the variety came from Motuozhen in Tibet about 11 miles from the border of the eastern end of Arunachal Pradesh. Another distribution has this variety also collected about 370 miles northwest of Tawang by Lake Urru in central Tibet. If your specimen was from Bhutan it might well be from this variety. Is that a densely pubescent branchlet I see in the background?
This photo is stunning, Daniel!