Abies religiosa

Sacred fir
Sacred fir forest in the mountains of Mexico State
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Abies
Species: A. religiosa
Binomial name
Abies religiosa
(Kunth) Schltdl. & Cham., 1830[2]
Synonyms[3]
  • Abies colimensis Rushforth & Narave F., H.
  • Abies glauca Roezl ex Gordon
  • Abies glaucescens Roezl
  • Abies hirtella (Kunth) Lindl.
  • Abies religiosa subsp. colimensis (Rushforth & Narave) Silba
  • Abies religiosa var. colimensis (Rushforth & Narave) Silba
  • Abies religiosa subsp. glaucescens (Roezl) Silba
  • Abies religiosa var. glaucescens Carrière
  • Abies religiosa var. hirtella (Kunth) Carrière
  • Abies religiosa var. lindleyana Carrière
  • Abies religiosa subsp. perotensis (Silba) Silba
  • Abies religiosa var. perotensis Silba
  • Abies tlapalcatuda Roezl
  • Picea glaucescens (Roezl) Gordon
  • Picea hirtella (Kunth) Loudon
  • Picea religiosa (Kunth) Loudon
  • Pinus hirtella Kunth
  • Pinus religiosa Kunth
  • Pinus religiosa var. minor Parl.

The sacred fir or Abies religiosa (known as oyamel in Spanish) is a fir native to the mountains of central and southern Mexico (Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, Sierra Madre del Sur) and western Guatemala. It grows at high altitudes of 2,100–4,100 metres (6,900–13,500 ft) in cloud forests with cool, humid summers and dry winters in most of its habitat regime. In the state of Veracruz, it grows with precipitation all year long. The tree is resistant to regular winter snowfalls.

Description

The Spanish name "oyamel" comes from the Nahuatl word oyametl (oya, to thresh; metl, agave; literally "threshing agave"). It is also called "árbol de Navidad" (Christmas tree) in Mexico. The English name derives from the binomial Abies religiosa, literally "religious fir". This comes from the use of its cut foliage in religious festivals in Mexico, notably at Christmas.

Abies religiosa is a medium-sized to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 25–50 m (82–164 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of up to 2 metres (6.6 ft). The leaves are needle-like, flattened, 1.5–3.5 cm (0.59–1.38 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.059 in) wide by 0.5 mm (0.020 in) thick, dark green above, and with two blue-white bands of stomata below; the leaf apex is acute. The leaf arrangement is spiral on the shoot, but with each leaf variably twisted at the base so they lie flat to either side of and above the shoot, with none below the shoot. The shoots are reddish-brown, hairless or with scattered pubescence.

The cones are 8–16 cm (3.1–6.3 in) long and 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) broad, dark blue-purple before maturity; the scale bracts are purple or greenish, of moderate length, with the tips exposed in the closed cone. The winged seeds are released when the cones disintegrate at maturity about 7–9 months after pollination. Trees from the western end of the range on Nevado de Colima, Jalisco have cones with larger, reflexed bract scales (similar to noble fir cones); these are sometimes treated as a separate species, Abies colimensis.

Significance

The sacred fir is the preferred tree for the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) to reside in colonies during its hibernation in the forests of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Although monarch butterflies are known in other parts of the southern Mexican highlands as some specimens do not migrate, the bulk of them gather in a few protected fir forests near the towns of Angangueo (Michoacán) and Avándaro (State of Mexico), from December to March.

The wood of the sacred fir is rather soft and thus not very suited for woodworking. Still, its distribution is narrowing because of logging for fuel and other human-related disturbances.[4]

Detail of leaves and immature cones
Detail of leaves and immature cones 
Dead leaves sample
Dead leaves sample 
At Chincua monarch butterfly sanctuary
At Chincua monarch butterfly sanctuary 
At El Rosario monarch butterfly sanctuary
At El Rosario monarch butterfly sanctuary 
In the Sierra Norte, Oaxaca
Firs and zacantonal on the trail of La Malinche
Firs and zacatonal on the trail of La Malinche, Tlaxcala 

References

  1. Farjon, A. (2013). "Abies religiosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  2. "Abies religiosa (Kunth) Schltdl. & Cham.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1999-10-12. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  3. The Plant List
  4. "Oyamel (Abies religiosa)" (PDF). CONABIO. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
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