A reply: "In the Western Himalayas, there are only two Fir, namely, Abies pindrow in lower altitudes and Abies spectabilis in higher altitudes. Abies gamblei is not recognised but as a variation of A.pindrow. A.spectabilis is also called A.webbiana. Abies densa is found in the Eastern Himalayas. I have not seen anything resembling the photo you have linked of the Abies pseudochensiensis anywhere in Uttarakhand Himalayas. I am not aware of anything similar in Himachal Pradesh too. However, there is very much scope of searching for more diverse populations as the conifers are rather unexplored taxonomically. For example, all the Firs in Valley of Flowers national park belongs to Abies spectabilis, but so far it has been reported only as Abies pindrow. There is no Abies pindrow at all in this national park. There could be other exotic species of Abies which were planted in the past and have survived. Similar is the case with Cupressus. Most of the Cupressus planted in different forest areas are mixtures of several exotic species of Cypress. The native Cupressus torulosa is restricted to only certain natural pockets. It would be interesting if different populations of conifers could be worked out for taxonomic affinities. As per present knowledge, we recognise only two Fir species in Uttarakhand. A.pindrow (Silver Fir) having needles in one plane in long branches and A.spectabilis (High Altitude Fir) having needles in all planes and shorter branches." from Manoj Chandran ji.
On 22 October 2012 15:52, jmgarg1 <jmga...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks, Dr. Istvan. > Though I am not aware of these, I am forwarding it to the efloraofindia > e-group, in case anybody else can help in the matter pl. > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: <iracz...@t-online.hu> > Date: 22 October 2012 15:44 > Subject: A conifer tree in the west Himalayas > To: jmga...@gmail.com > > > Dear Mr. Garg, > I read on the web that you are an experienced naturalist and photographer. > As part of the Dendrological Atlas Project team I briefly visited Himachal > Pradesh a couple of > times (2003, 2004) to document the native conifers, and the photographs > were published in > Conifers Around the World (see www.conifersaroundtheworld.com). I am > still searching for a > conifer which is not Abies pindrow, and not Abies gamblei (these are > native on Mt. Churdhar, for > example, you may have seen them before) - but a different one. Some photos > are on the web here: > http://conifersaroundtheworld.com/blog/abies_pseudochensiensis_kamon_fir > Prof. Debreczy and myself suspect that this tree might be there hiding > somewhere in the W. > Himalayas. Do you recognise this plant? Didi you see it anywhere in your > tours? > With best regards, > Istvan Racz Ph.D. > Hungarian Natural History Museum > Budapest > > > jmga...@gmail.com > > > > -- > With regards, > J.M.Garg > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 > 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' > The whole world uses my Image Resource of more than a *thousand species*& > eight thousand images of Birds, Butterflies, Plants etc. (arranged > alphabetically & place-wise): > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg. You can also use > them for free as per Creative Commons license attached with each image. > For identification, learning, discussion & documentation of Indian Flora, > please visit/ join our Efloraofindia Google e-group: > http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix (more than 1980 members & > 1,33,000 messages on 30/9/12) or Efloraofindia website: > https://sites.google.com/site/efloraofindia/ (with a species database > of more than 7500 species). > Also author of 'A Photoguide to the Birds of Kolkata & Common Birds of > India'. > > -- With regards, J.M.Garg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' The whole world uses my Image Resource of more than a *thousand species* & eight thousand images of Birds, Butterflies, Plants etc. (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg. You can also use them for free as per Creative Commons license attached with each image. For identification, learning, discussion & documentation of Indian Flora, please visit/ join our Efloraofindia Google e-group: http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix (more than 1980 members & 1,33,000 messages on 30/9/12) or Efloraofindia website: https://sites.google.com/site/efloraofindia/ (with a species database of more than 7500 species). Also author of 'A Photoguide to the Birds of Kolkata & Common Birds of India'. --
