Abies mariesii

Masters 1879

Common names

オオシラビソ Ōshirabiso, or アオモリトドマツ Aomoritodomatsu [Japanese], Maries fir.

Taxonomic notes

Type: Japan, Honshu, Awomori Prefecture, Nikko-san, C. Maries 73 (holo K); the collection was on Hakkoda Mountain in 1878. Syn.: Pinus mariesii (Mast.) Voss 1907; Abies mariesii Mast. f. hayachinensis Hayata1955 (Farjon 1998). A. mariesii and A. amabilis are the two species in Abies sect. Amabilis. One is native to Japan, the other to Canada. This is a common pattern in conifers and suggests they formerly shared a more northerly distribution that included the Bering Land Bridge, but were forced to lower latitudes by climatic cooling and drying in late Neogene time (or perhaps earlier; the cooling and drying trend lasted throughout the Neogene).

Description

Trees to 30 m tall and 100 cm dbh, with a broad-pyramidal crown of long, spreading, later downcurved branches. Bark first smooth and pale gray, with age darkening and becoming rough, scaly. Twigs slender, light brown, ridged and grooved, dense brown-pubescent, becoming glabrous and gray with age. Buds globose, resinous, 2-3 mm long, covered by apical leaves; scales brown, ciliate, persisting 2-3 years. Leaves spirally arranged, pectinate on shade foliage, on sun foliage shorter, more nearly erect, curved inwards and forwards to cover the shoot; (6-)10-20(-25) × 1.6-2.5 mm, widest near the emarginate or obtuse apex, linear, strongly twisted and narrowed at base, flattened, dark green and grooved above with slightly revolute margins, paler green below with 2 white stomatal bands and a green midrib. No stomata on upper surface. Pollen cones lateral, axillary, pendulous, 15-20 mm long, yellowish when fertile. Seed cones lateral, nearly sessile, often densely clustered on branches in the upper crown, ovoid-oblong, 4-9 × 2-4.5 cm, violet-blue maturing dark blackish-purple, with a persistent narrowly conical dark brown rachis. Seed scales at mid-cone 15-22 × 20-25 mm, smooth, puberulent, upper margin entire and incurved; bracts obovate, 10-15 mm long, not exserted. Seeds conical-ovoid, 5-7 mm long, light brown with a 10-12 mm light brown cuneate wing (Farjon 2010).

Distribution and Ecology

Japan: Honshu, in mountains from Nagoya north to Aomori at elevations of (750-)1000-2800 m, mostly on podzolic soils derived from volcanic rock; climate is cool and summer-wet, ca. 2000 mm annual precipitation, commonly with a heavy and persistent winter snowpack. In this, Abies mariesii grows in an environment remarkably similar to that experienced by its sister species A. amabilis. Typhoons are the principal disturbance. Near the alpine timberline A. mariesii may form pure stands (photo at right), but it mainly occurs in montane to subalpine mixed conifer forests with, e.g., Abies veitchii, Picea jezoensis var. hondoensis, Tsuga diversifolia, and on exposed sites such as ridgetops Juniperus communis var. nipponica and Pinus pumila. Common angiosperm trees include Betula ermanii, Sorbus commixta, and Acer spp. Shrub bamboo (Sasa paniculata and S. nipponica) is locally common in the understory. See A. veitchii for remarks on the competitive relationship between the sympatric A. mariesii and A. veitchii, and on the species' occurrence in fir wave forests.

Hardy to Zone 6 (cold hardiness limit between -23.2°C and -17.8°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

Abies mariesii is currently assessed as of "Least Concern" for conservation because, although it has a limited distribution, "There is no evidence of a current threat to the species" (Katsuki et al. 2013). However, Nakashizuka et al. (2016) demonstrate the existence of a clear threat in the form of climate change, which is driving the species to higher elevations and, thus, an even more restricted habitat. In a study focused on the Hakkoda Mountains of N Honshu, they find that A. mariesii is restricted to elevations exceeding 800 m and is the dominant tree of subalpine forest at 1000-1400 m elevation, above which is alpine vegetation extending about another 200 m to the highest summits. There are also a few patches of "moorland" that form a locally cool/wet habitat where A. mariesii occurs even below 800 m elevation. Data from 1967 show that since then A. mariesii populations have decreased significantly at elevations below 1000 m and have increased significantly at elevations above 1300 m. Modeling results indicate a reduction in suitable habitat of over 50% in response to a further increase in mean annual temperature of 2°C and disappearance of suitable habitat with an increase of 3°C (Nakashizuka et al. 2016).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.02.22.

Ethnobotany

No data on use by aboriginal peoples. In modern times A. mariesii is not used for timber production because the wood is of little value and the species grows in relatively inaccessible locations. It is also uncommon in horticulture, mostly seen in larger botanical gardens and arboreta in areas with a suitable climate (Farjon 2010).

Observations

No data as of 2023.02.22.

Remarks

The epithet honors the collector, English botanist Charles Maries, who introduced over 500 east Asian species to European horticulture.

Citations

Masters. 1879. Gardener's Chronicle ser. 2, 12:788. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2023.11.29.

See also

Elwes and Henry 1906-1913 at the Biodiversity Heritage Library. This series of volumes, privately printed, provides some of the most engaging descriptions of conifers ever published. Although they only treat species cultivated in the U.K. and Ireland, and the taxonomy is a bit dated, still these accounts are thorough, treating such topics as species description, range, varieties, exceptionally old or tall specimens, remarkable trees, and cultivation. Despite being over a century old, they are generally accurate, and are illustrated with some remarkable photographs and lithographs.

Farjon, Aljos. 1990. Pinaceae: drawings and descriptions of the genera Abies, Cedrus, Pseudolarix, Keteleeria, Nothotsuga, Tsuga, Cathaya, Pseudotsuga, Larix and Picea. Königstein: Koeltz Scientific Books.
- Provides a detailed account, with illustrations.

Farjon (2010).

Iwatsuki et al. (1995).

Katsuki, T., D. Zhang, and K. Rushforth. 2013. Abies mariesii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T42291A2970199. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42291A2970199.en, accessed 2025.01.30.

Nakashizuka, Tohru, Masaya Shimazaki, Takehiro Sasaki, Takahisa Tanaka, Hiroko Kurakawa, and Kouki Hikosaka. 2016. Influences of climate change on the distribution and population dynamics of subalpine coniferous forest in the Hakkoda Mountains, northern Japan. Pp. 1-16 in Structure and Function of Mountain Ecosystems in Japan, edited by Gaku Kudo. Tokyo: Springer Japan. doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55954-2.