B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 34. 2003 (Budapest, 2003)

Debreczy, Zsolt; Rácz, István: A re-assessment of the new taxa of firs (Abies Mill.) reported from Mexico in 1995

Studia bot. hung. 34, pp. 81-110, 2003 A RE-ASSESSMENT OF THE NEW TAXA OF FIRS (ABIES MILL.) REPORTED FROM MEXICO IN 1995 Zs. DEBRFXZY

1 and I. RÁCZ

2 'International Dendrological Research Institute, Box 812910, Wellesley, MA 02482, USA, E-mail: d-zs-gy@juno.com 2

Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum H-1

476 Budapest, Pf. 222, Hungary; E-mail: iracz@bot.nhmus.hu In the years 1994 and 1995, 10 new taxa of conifers were described and published [IDRI Newsbrief No. 6, September 1994; Phytologia 78(4): 217-243, April 1995]. The authors of the above publications and taxa intend to complement the former contributions with new data and additional illustrations, first, regarding the genus Abies. Key words: new taxa of conifers, Mexico, Abies hidalgensis, Abies neodurangensis, Abies zapotekensis, Abies guatemalensis var. longibracteata, Abies lowiana var. viridula, Hidalgo, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chihuahua INTRODUCTION Following three expeditions to Mexico by the Dendrological Atlas Project team (Zsolt Debreczy, Gyöngyvér Biró, István Rácz and associates), 10 new taxa of conifers (species: Abies hidalgensis, A. neodurangensis, A. zapotekensis, Pinus yecorensis; infraspecific: Abies guatemalensis var. longibracteata, A. lowiana var. viridula, Pinus yecorensis var. sinaloensis, P. oaxacana var. diversiformis, P. lawsonii var. gracilis, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. oaxacana) were described and published (DEBRECZY and RÁCZ 1994, 1995). The paper which contained limited illustrations only referred to the No. 6 issue of the Newsbrief of the International Dendrological Research Institute, Inc. which publication sufficiently figured all proposed taxa. Circulated mostly for the IDRI membership, only a few libraries received them on regular basis or obtained them upon request; thus, the photos of the habitats and figures of the morphology of the (then) new species were not readily available. After visiting the regions of these taxa again, and considering the importance of a good illustration for better understanding the concept of the distinguished taxa, we decided to update the former publication with sufficient illustrations and explanation. Three papers are scheduled regarding the subject, the first one on the 5 Abies taxa published in 1995.