Khingan fir
Abies nephrolepis · Pinaceae · 분비나무
How to spot it
Compared with the Korean fir (gusangnamu), the cone bracts are not reflexed (though they may be when the scales fall at maturity), most leaf tips are pointed, and the resin canals in the leaf cross-section lie midway between the vascular bundle and the leaf margin.
Look
- Leaves
- Linear leaves 16.6 to 27 (40) mm long and 1.4 to 2.2 mm wide, with pointed or notched tips; on young twigs the tip may be two-forked. Two white stomatal lines on the underside.
- Flowers
- Cones appear in May (per the Korean description; the English source gives pollination in April to May). The bract is 3 mm long and slightly visible at the tip.
- Fruit
- Cones are long ovoid or ovate-cylindrical, brown, black, purple or green, 43.9 to 80 mm long and 19.8 to 26 mm wide. After maturity the scales fall and the bracts protrude. Seeds are 4.5 to 7.2 mm long and ripen in September.
- Bark
- Bark is grayish and smooth.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Native
- Native to
- Korea (Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungbuk, Gyeongbuk), northern and northeastern China, eastern Russia and Mongolia.
- Ecology
- An alpine conifer living mainly on high peaks of the Baekdudaegan mountains above 1,200 m, mainly at 1,200 to 1,600 m, found mostly on moister north-facing slopes (2017-2018 survey).