Abies pinsapo Boiss.

Abies: Ancient Latin name for fir

pinsapo: name of the plant in Malaga province, Spain; it appears to derive from "pinus" = pine and "sapinus" = fir

Habit: Evergreen, monoecious tree up to 30 m tall, with a stout columnar trunk; bark fairly smooth, with few grooves; branches whorled; crown ± conical.

Leaves: spirally inserted along the twig and perpendicular like rays, giving the twig the appearance of a cylindrical brush, evergreen, simple, 1-2 cm long, linear, somewhat thick and sharp, stiff, ± glaucous.

Male cones: axillary, mainly towards the distal end of young branches, subsessile, 1-1.5 cm long, ovoid, reddish. Female cones: subsessile, at the top of the crown, 2-3 cm long, cylindrical, greenish.

Mature female cones: 10-15 cm long x 3-5 cm in diam., ± cylindrical, erect, disintegrating on the tree when mature; seed scales ± woody, longer than bract scales, each bearing 2 seeds on its adaxial side. Seed ovate, with a membranous wing.

Male and female cones appear in spring; female cones mature in autumn of the same year.

Endemic to the Sierra de las Nieves and Sierra Bermeja, in Malaga province, and the Sierra del Pinar, in Cadiz province, all in Spain.

Closely related to A. maroccana Trab. from N Morocco, which many authors consider a variety or subspecies of the Spanish fir.

Often planted as an ornamental, particularly in parks and botanic gardens. The four individuals growing near the pond deserve the attention of visitors, as they are probably the tallest in Madrid.

It is easily propagated from seeds.