Mountain Tsuga , or Mertensa ( lat. Tsuga mertensiana ) - a tree of the Tsuga genus of the Pine family ( Pinaceae ). Endemic to the highlands of the west coast of North America . The species name is given in honor of the German botanist Karl Heinrich Mertens (1796-1830).
| Mountain Tsuga | |||||||||||||||||||
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Tsuga mertensiana ( Bong. ) Carrière , 1867 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Content
Synonyms
The following names are included in the synonymy of the species:
- Abies hookeriana A.Murray
- Abies mertensiana ( Bong. ) Lindl. & Gordon
- Abies pattoniana A. Murray
- Hesperopeuce mertensiana ( Bong. ) Rydb.
- Pinus mertensiana bong. basionym
- Tsuga pattoniana ( A.Murray ) Engelm.
Description
Cones; subs. mertensiana |
Foliage; subs. grandicona |
Evergreen tree up to 40 m tall and trunk diameter up to 150 cm Crown cone-shaped. The bark has shades from dark gray to reddish brown, scaly, with deep cracks. Branches are yellow-brown, densely covered with fluff.
The kidneys are ovoid, 3-4 mm long. The leaves are needle-like ( needles ), 10-25 (30) mm long, mainly diverging in all directions, bent towards the top of the twig, in the middle part thickened, somewhat rounded in cross section or look like a trapezoid; both surfaces of the leaf are grayish-green, with inconspicuous stomatal lines; the edges are solid.
Female cones are violet, in the ripening state gray-brown or dark gray-brown, ovoid-cylindrical, 3-6 cm long, 1.5-2.5 cm thick. The cone scales are fluffy, diverge with a wide fan, 8-11 mm long, the ends are sharp or rounded.
There are 3 subspecies and variations:
- Tsuga mertensiana subsp. mertensiana var. mertensiana . North of Center. Oregon . Cones are smaller in size, 30-60 mm long, 12-25 mm thick.
- Tsuga mertensiana subsp. mertensiana var. jeffreyi . North of Center. Oregon. It is rare. The leaves in the upper part are more green, in the lower part gray-green. At one time it was believed that this was a hybrid with a western tsuga , but exact scientific evidence of this was not available.
- Tsuga mertensiana subsp. grandicona south of the center. Oregon. Leaves are strictly gray-green. The cones are larger, 45-80 X 20-35 mm.
Distribution
The natural range of mountain Tsuga is limited in the north by the Kenai Peninsula on the south coast of Alaska to Central California in the south and is close to the range of Western Tsuga ( Tsuga heterophylla ).
It grows at an altitude of up to 3050 m, reaching the border of woody vegetation in the subalpine zone. Grows in the Rockies in southeast British Columbia ( Canada ), northern Idaho , western Montana ; in California on the Coast Ranges , Klamath Mountains, and Sierra Nevada . In most cases, prefers large heights.
Gallery
Cones in spring
Cones in the fall
Links
- Mountain Tsuga (English) : information on the GRIN website.
- Gymnosperm database