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

flexed when (in helical order) they reach or leave their uppermost position on the branchiets, 3-5 cm long, 2 mm wide, parallel sided, rounded and shortly (0.14-0.20 mm) emarginate, flexible and rather leathery, shiny dark green with or without up to 5 (2-3 mm long) stomatophorus lines on the tip of the leaves or on stronger branches with 2-3 lines reaching below the middle of the length of the leaves, their ventral side silvery grey with narrow green margins (0.15-0.20 mm) and midrib (0.2-0.4), often with broken lines of, or completely covered by stomas and two broad silvery stripes, typically with 14-18 (in narrower shade leaves 10-12) stomatophorus lines with densely set (12-13 mm), fine (0.03-0.04 mm) narrow elongated stomata; leaves in cross section flat, "avicular" to "epsilon" shaped with 2 ~4(!) median resin canals; strobiles: female: 3-4 cm long, with short (4-5 mm), first appressed, later reflexed, rounded, irregularly serrate, pale green bracts with sessile midrib exceeded by margins: male: 1.2 cm long on 3 mm peduncle, consist of about 100 (20 x 5), 1.8 mm wide, hairy fertile scales; cones: 8-9 x 3.6—4.2 cm, short (0.4-0.8 cm) stemmed, "peduncled", cylindrical, rather smooth in outline with 150-190 (25-38 x 5) cone scales; rounded at apex, green, greyish green before fully ripened, cone scales: "wing-shaped", finely velutinous with very short (0.03-0.06 mm), upright hairs; bract short (0.8-1.0 cm), enclosed (sessile), slightly "V" shaped at end with incised serrate, fimbriate wings exceeding the nonprominent midrib; axis narrow conical; seeds: 11x3 mm, wing 21x12 mm with 7 mm long hood. Named after the indigenous people living in the area where the species was found. Zapotecs (here Zapotek to avoid the sound modification in Latin of "c" before "e") are the largest native nation of Oaxaca, with a macro-otomangue language and old culture (Monte Albán). They are by nature friendly and excellent in forest management and conservation. Discussion: this rare species with two to four resin canals in the leaves, green cones with short (sessile), inserted bracts, was found in a hidden valley of the cloud forest region northeast of the town of Ixtlán de Juarez, Oaxaca, in an area where only Abies hickelii and (very locally in the wider region but not near the site) A. guatemalensis was known. Although crown and foliage is similar at first sight, Abies hickelii is completely different with its slightly emarginate (not bifid) and very dark green leaves with up to 13 resin canals (not 2-4) and larger (10-12 cm long), blue-pruinose (not pruinose green) cones with long exserted, upright, pointed (not enclosed, sessile) bracts with prominent tip (Figs 15, 17-18, 21-22). Abies guatemalensis has similarly "bractless" cones (Figs 19-20), but it has a denser foliage (close to twice as many leaves as it is in this species on equal length of comparable shade branchiets), straight and vertical (not subdistichous, partially ascending on the stem) and has two (not 2-4) resin canals. The cones of that spe-