Abies nephrolepis

(Trautv.) Maxim. (1866)

Common names

Manchurian fir, Hinggan fir, eastern Siberian fir [English]; Пихта белокорая pikhta amurskaya [Russian]; 臭冷杉 chou leng shan [Chinese]; 분비나무 [Korean].

Taxonomic notes

Synonymy (Farjon 1998):

• Abies sibirica Ledeb. var. nephrolepis Trautv. ex Maxim.;
• Abies veitchii Lindl. var. nephrolepis Mast.;
• Pinus nephrolepis (Trautv. ex Maxim.) Voss;
• Abies nephrolepis f. chlorocarpa E.H.Wilson;
• Abies koreana E.H. Wilson f. prostrata Kolesn.

One of 8 species in Section Balsamea, distributed in E Asia and North America.

Description

Evergreen monoecious trees to 30-35 m tall and 100-120 cm dbh with a round columnar trunk. First-order branches spreading horizontally (ascending in upper crown, drooping in lower) and second-order branches spreading horizontally, to form a conical or oval crown that flattens and may become irregular as the tree ages. Bark first smooth, light gray to gray-brown, fissuring and darkening with age. Twigs slender, firm, yellowish gray-brown turning gray, ridged and grooved with minute pubescence in the grooves, and circular leaf scars. Leaves dull gray-green, spirally arranged, directed forward, obscuring the upper surface of the shoot, 1-2.5(-3) cm × 2 mm, linear, flattened with slightly revolute margins, strongly twisted at base, apex variable: notched to acuminate, stomata in 2 bands on lower surface. Pollen cones lateral, axillary, crowded on underside of foliage, yellow-green. Seed cones lateral, erect, often several crowded together, cylindrical, obtuse, 4.5-7.5 × 2-3.5 cm, purple maturing to dull brown, persistent dark brown conical rachis. Cone scales reniform, 10-12 × 15-18 mm, smooth, resinous, exposed portion puberulent, exposed margin entire or slightly erose. Bract scales 14-20 mm, spathulate, with exserted straight cusps. Seeds obovate-cuneate, 5 × 3 mm, black, with short blackish 6 × 5 mm seed wings (Farjon 1990). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy.

Specimens with green immature cones have been described as forma chlorocarpa Wilson. In Heilongjiang, China, this species hybridizes with Abies sibirica: Abies × sibirico-nephrolepis Takenouchi et Chien. The hybrid has shorter leaves, the young shoots are grey-brown pubescent, and the cones are larger; other characters are intermediate between the two species (Farjon 1990).

Distribution and Ecology

China: Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi; North Korea; South Korea; Russia: SE Siberia, from the Zeya River to the Sikhote Alin Mountains; at elevations varying from 500-700 m near its northern range limits, to 750-2000 m near the southern. Climate cold, with most precipitation falling as snow (Farjon 1990, Fu et al. 1999). Hardy to Zone 3 (cold hardiness limit between -39.9°C and -34.4°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

Soils variable, well-drained. Common associated trees include Picea jezoensis and Pinus koraiensis in maritime areas; in the interior, Picea obovata, Larix gmelinii, Pinus sibirica, Abies sibirica, Betula spp. and Sorbus amurensis. At higher elevations it occurs with Juniperus sabina and Pinus pumila (Farjon 1990).

Remarkable Specimens

A specimen 34 m tall and 220 cm dbh is reportedly grows on the Shkotovo plateau, Ussuriland, Russia (see photograph). Trees with a larger diameter are reported from the vicinity of Lake Aitut near Komsomolsk, in the lower Amur Valley (Vladimir Dinets e-mail 2000.06).

The oldest record is 246 years, a crossdated estimate for a tree near Anisimovka, about 35 km E of Vladivostok, Russia (supplemental data to Brienen et al. 2025).

Ethnobotany

No data as of 2026-07-27.

Observations

No data as of 2026-07-27.

Remarks

The epithet nephrolepis is from the Greek, referring to the kidney-shaped cone scales.

Citations

Brienen, R. J. W., G. M. Locosselli, S. Krottenthaler, et al. 2025. Contrasting pathways to tree longevity in gymnosperms and angiosperms. Nature Communications 17:898. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-67619-2.

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.

Maximowicz, C. J. 1866. Diagnoses breves plantarum novarum Japoniae et Mandshuriae. Bulletin de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg, p. 486. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2026.01.07.

See also

Cheng and Fu (1978).

Vidakovic (1991).

Description and illustration at the Flora of China (Fu et al. 1999).