130201 Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.
- H. Karst., Deut. Fl. 2-3: 324 (1881). - Pinus abies L., Sp. Pl.: 1002 (1753). Lectotype: central Europe. J. Camerarius, De Plantis Epitome Util. P.A. Matthioli: 47, ill. 1686. (Farjon and Jarvis in Farjon 1993: 122). - Pinus excelsa Lam., Fl. Franç. 2: 202 (1778 1779). - Picea excelsa (Lam.) Link., Linnaea 15: 517 (1842).
Geography: European - Asian.
Notes: Tollefsrud and Elven: The majority of authors have accepted two subspecies or species for Europe: subsp. abies (= Picea abies s. str., P. excelsa) as mainly European and subsp. obovata (= P. obovata) as Siberian and northern European westwards to northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway (e.g., Tolmachev 1960; Franco 1993; Christensen 2000). Some authors have reported subsp. abies north to the limit of the species in Fennoscandia (including the Murman area) but not from the Arctic. Abundant transitions between the two are reported from northern and northeastern Europe.
Recent molecular studies throw doubts on the presence of subsp. obovata in Europe. Tollefsrud et al. (2008, 2009) studied variation in AFLP and found three main lines within P. abies s. lat.: one in central and east-central Europe (including the type area of the names P. abies = P. exclesa), one in northern and northeastern Europe and separated from the central and east-central European one by a gap in Poland and Germany, and one from the Urals and eastwards in Siberia. The two European lines constitute subsp. abies and were more similar in markers than they were to the Siberian one which constitutes subsp. obovata as described from the Altai. This means that subsp. obovata (P. obovata) should not be recognized from northern Europe west of the Urals. As the names P. abies = P. excelsa belong within the central and east-central European line, no name is available for the northern European line if one is needed. The morphological distinctions reported among northern European plants must be re-considered in light of the molecular results. We restrict the name subsp. obovata to Siberian and Ural plants and provisionally assign all European plants to subsp. abies.
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A young tree of Picea abies growing in southern Germany
Source: Qgroom at Wikispecies
