Comparative anatomy of the wood of Abies pinsapo and its two Moroccan varieties

Abstract

This study describes the structure of the wood of Abies pinsapo from samples taken from its three natural distribution areas in the Iberian Peninsula (Sierra de Grazalema, Sierra de las Nieves and Sierra Bermeja) and compares them with the varieties from the north of Africa, Abies pinsapo var. marocana from the Talassemtane mountains and A. pinsapo var. tazaotana from the Tazaout mountains. All the samples were collected in their regions of provenance. To put the results into perspective, a comparison was also made with the wood of Abies alba and A. numidica. The wood of the Iberian A. pinsapo and of its two varieties from the Rif mountains in Morocco is anatomically similar, and there are no qualitative differences that enable the wood to be differentiated except for the presence of resin deposits in the tracheids adjacent to the rays in the samples from Grazalema. Quantitatively, for tracheid diameter and tracheid length there are statistically significantly differences (p<0.05) between those of Spanish provenance and the Moroccan varieties, but for tracheid pit diameter, largest diameter of cross-field pits and tall ray frequency the samples from Sierra Bermeja have more in common with the African samples.