Fir of Macedonia [2] ( lat. Abies borisii-regis ) - endemic evergreen monoecious tree ; species of the genus Fir family Pine ( Pinaceae ). The natural habitat is the mountainous regions of the Balkan Peninsula in Bulgaria , northern Greece , Macedonia , Serbia and Albania .
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The species is very small, occupying an intermediate position between cephalon fir ( Abies cephalonica ) and white fir ( Abies alba ), some scientists have identified it as a hybrid of these firs [3] [4] .
Content
History and title
Fir was named after the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III ( lat. Borisii regis ), during the reign of which [note 1] German botanist Johannes Mattfeld ( German Johannes Mattfeld ) in 1925 discovered and described this species in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria [5] .
In English literature, the Macedonian fir, in addition to the Latin scientific name , has the following common names: “King Boris Fir”, “Balkan Fir”, “Bulgarian Fir”, “Macedonian Fir” [5] [6] .
Scientists are still arguing about the taxonomic identity of the species: for example, in 1991 the famous Croatian botanist Mirko Vidakovich ( English Mirko Vidaković ) in his work “Conifers: morphology and variation” wrote that the taxon is hybrid in nature and is a transitional form between fir cephaline ( Abies cephalonica ) and white fir ( Abies alba ) [6] .
In the 2009 edition of Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference, this species is designated as a hybrid: Abies x borisii-regis [5] .
Botanical Description
Macedonian fir - powerful ( trunk diameter up to 1.5-2 meters), tall tree (up to 40 meters, individual specimens up to 60 meters) [6] .
The bark is dark gray, almost black; in young trees it is smooth [7] .
Shoots - brown, with intense dark brown or blackish pubescence (length 0.5-1 mm). The buds are oval, brown, slightly covered with yellow resin [6] [7] .
The needles are short (length is 2.8-3 cm, width 1.7 mm), flat, dark green, glossy, with a rounded or sharp tip, with a small number of stomata near the tip or without any on the top and with two narrow light rows of stomata on the lower part; along the shoot are very densely arranged, directed forward and slightly up [7] [8] .
Female cones are conical, elongated, rather large: 12-15 cm long (individual specimens up to 21 cm) and 4 cm wide; pale, greenish-violet color (before maturity). Bracts 5-10 mm protrude beyond the length of the covering scales (length about 3.5 mm) [7] [8] .
Seeds 12 mm long, with wings about 20 mm [6] . The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24 [8] .
Distribution
Macedonian fir - endemic to southeastern Europe - occupies very limited territories mainly in the mountainous regions of Bulgaria (heights from 700 to 1700 m) and northern Greece (heights of about 1800 m). It is also found in the territory of the former Yugoslavia ( Macedonia and Serbia ) and Albania . The most typical area for a tree is the territory in the Rhodope Mountains , 50 km south of Plovdiv (Bulgaria) [6] .
The tree is listed in 1998 [note 2] Red List of Threatened Species , category LC (low risk) [9] .
Ecology
Fir prefers to grow on mountain limestone or serpentinite soils at an altitude of 500-2000 meters [8] . Periodically forms at heights of 1000-1600 meters small clean and mixed forests, adjacent to black pine ( Pinus nigra ) and beech forest ( Fagus sylvatica ) [10] [11] .
The oldest registered Macedonian fir was found in 1996 in Greece: its age was approximately 170 years. However, due to the rarity of this species, as well as limited observations, it is believed that older trees can also be found in nature [6] .
Meaning and Application
Due to its limited prevalence, and also, partly due to its growth in protected areas, the species does not have any significant economic value. It is of interest from a botanical (scientific) point of view.
Notes
- ↑ Abies borisii-regis. Species details . Conifer database . Catalog of Life: 2009 Annual Checklist. Date of treatment December 17, 2009. Archived April 12, 2012.
- ↑ Krylov G.V., Maradudin I.I., Mikheev N.I., Kozakova N.F. Fir . - Agropromizdat. - M. , 1986. - 239 p.
- ↑ Trees and shrubs of the USSR. Wild, cultivated and promising for introduction / Ed. Dr. biol. sciences, prof. S. Ya. Sokolov and Corr. USSR Academy of Sciences B.K. Shishkin. - M., L .: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1949. - T. 1 (gymnosperms). - S. 98.
- ↑ Ross HH A Synthesis of Evolutionary Theory. - Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1962 .-- S. 191.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Eckenwalder JE Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. - London: Timber Press, 2009 .-- P. 87-88. - ISBN 978-0-88192-974-4 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Abies borisii-regis . Pinaceae . The Gymnosperm Database. Date of treatment December 18, 2009. Archived September 27, 2006.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Silba J. A supplement to the international census of the Coniferae, II (Eng.) // Phytologia. - 1990. - Vol. 68 , no. 1 . - P. 11 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Strid A. Mountain flora of Greece. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. - T. 1. - P. 40–41. - ISBN 978-0-52125-737-4 .
- ↑ Abies borisii-regis . The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Date of treatment December 18, 2009. Archived April 12, 2012.
- ↑ The most distinctive Ecosystems . Presentation of Municipality of Central Zagori in web page . Technological Educational Institutes of Piraeus (Greece). Date of treatment December 21, 2009. Archived April 12, 2012.
- ↑ Papaioannou HI, Kati VI Current status of the Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) in Greece: Implications for conservation (Eng.) // Belgian Journal of Zoology. - 2007. - Vol. 137 , no. 1 . - P. 33-39 .
Literature
- Eckenwalder JE Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. - London: Timber Press, 2009 .-- P. 87-88. - ISBN 978-0-88192-974-4 .
- Fady B., Westfall RD Mating system parameters in a natural population of Abies borisii regis Mattfeld (Eng.) // Annals of Forest Science. - 1997. - Vol. 54 , no. 7 . - P. 643-647 .
- Liu T. A monograph of the genus Abies. - Taipei: Dept. of Forestry, College of Agriculture, National Taiwan University, 1971. - 608 p.
- Strid A. Mountain flora of Greece. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. - T. 1. - P. 40–41. - ISBN 978-0-52125-737-4 .
Links
- Macedonian Fir information on the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) website (Retrieved December 18, 2009) .
- Macedonian Fir : Information on the IPNI website. (Retrieved December 18, 2009)
Remarks
- ↑ Period of rule: October 3, 1918 - August 28, 1943.
- ↑ The last of the published lists as of December 1, 2009.