Abies vejarii

Description

Abies vejarii is a species of conifer in the genus Fir (Abies). It occurs in two isolated stands in northern Mexico. Abies vejarii grows as an evergreen tree that can reach heights of up to 40 meters and a diameter of up to 1.5 meters at breast height. The branches extend horizontally from the trunk and form a broadly conical to pyramidal crown. Young trees have a smooth gray bark that turns grey-brown, roughens and flakes with age. The bark of the twigs is first purple, later turning orange-brown. It is hairless, smooth and has a shallow furrow. The spherical buds are very resinous and are around 2.5 millimeters long and 3 millimeters thick. They consist of keel-shaped bud scales. The needles are 1 to 2.5 centimeters long and 1.3 to 2 millimeters wide. They are twisted at the base and stand spirally on the branches. Two wide, whitish stomata bands are found on the underside of the needle. The spherical male cones are reddish in color and are around 5 millimeters in size. Your tip is blunt. They stand in groups on the branches. The upright, oblong-ovoid cones are 6 to 12 centimeters long and 4 to 6 centimeters thick. Immature cones are dark purple in color and mature ones are dark brown. The seeds are 8 to 10 millimeters long and have a purple-brown wing about 15 millimeters long and about 12 millimeters wide. The natural range of Abies vejarii includes two isolated populations in the Sierra Madre Oriental of northern Mexico. These stocks are located in southeastern Coahuila and Nuevo León, and western Tamaulipas. Abies vejarii is a species of fir native to northeastern Mexico, in the states of Coahuila and Nuevo León, where it grows at high altitudes (2,000-3,300 m) in the Sierra Madre Oriental. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 35-40 m tall. The leaves 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 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 seeds; they disintegrate when mature to release the seeds. Named after Octavio Véjar Vázquez, at the time, Mexican Minister for Public Education.