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Picea koyamae

Picea koyamae, Photo: Michael Lahanas

Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Classis: Pinopsida
Ordo: Pinales
Familia: Pinaceae
Genus: Picea
Species: Picea koyamae

Picea koyamae, Photo: Michael Lahanas

Name

Picea koyamae Shiras.

References

* Botanical Magazine. [Shokubutsu-gaku zasshi]. [Tokyo Botanical Society]. Tokyo 27:128, t. 2, fig. 28-35. 1913 "koyamai"
* USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Data from 07-Oct-06]. 28301

Vernacular names
Internationalization
Deutsch: Koyama-Fichte
English: Koyama's Spruce

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Picea koyamae (Koyama's Spruce; Japanese: ヤツガタケトウヒ yatsugatake-tohhi) is a rare spruce, native to Akaishi Mountains and Yatsugatake Mountains, or Nagano and Yamanashi Prefectures in central Honshū, Japan, where it grows at 1500-2000 m altitude.[2]

It is a monoecious evergreen tree growing to 25 m tall, with a trunk diameter of up to 1 m. The shoots are orange-brown, with scattered pubescence. The leaves are needle-like, 8-16 mm long, rhombic in cross-section, dark bluish-green with conspicuous stomatal lines. The cones are cylindric-conic, 4-9 cm long and 2 cm broad, maturing pale brown 5–7 months after pollination, and have stiff, smoothly rounded scales 6–18 mm long and 6-12 mm wide. Pollination takes place in late spring.[2][3]

The spruce is found growing in groups of 10-20, with a total population of only about 250 mature trees. The main cause of decline is the loss of natural regeneration after typhoons, with windblown trees being replaced by the planting of other faster-growing commercially valuable species.[1][2]

It is named after the Japanese botanist Mitsua Koyama. The name was first published as "koyamai", but this is an orthographical error to be corrected under the provisions of ICBN Article 60.[4]

It is occasionally planted as an ornamental tree. The wood is similar to that of other spruces, but the species is too rare to be of economic value.

References

1. ^ a b Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Picea koyamae. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN D v2.3)
2. ^ a b c Farjon, A. (1990). Pinaceae. Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera. Koeltz Scientific Books ISBN 3-87429-298-3.
3. ^ Gymnosperm Database: Picea koyamai
4. ^ Farjon, A. (1998). World Checklist and Bibliography of Conifers. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew ISBN 1-900347-54-7.

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Source: Wikispecies, Wikipedia: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License