Rare Santa Lucia Fir - Santa Lucia Fir Trees

The Double-Cone Quarterly=A Window to the Wild
Fall Equinox 1998 || Volume I, Number 2

Perfect Pattern of Silvan Perfection on the Symmetrical Plan,
the Rare Santa Lucia Fir.
Abies bracteata (D. Don) Nuttall [Abies venusta (Douglas) Koch].
By David Rogers Â© 1998
Scattered in suitable habitats in the Santa Lucia Mountains is the rarest and most narrowly endemic of all species of fir, the Santa Lucia Fir. This species is also the most distinct of all firs, so much so that it is the only taxon of the subgenus Pseudotorreya (the Bracteatae of some authors). The unique morphological features include the bracts subtending the cone scales, which terminate in long and narrowly linear appendages similar to the leaves, the large spindle-shaped and resinless winter twig buds, the long and sharply pointed leaves (which resemble the leaves of Torreya of the Yew Family, and hence the subgeneric name), and the very narrow and sharply pointed spire-like crowns, which resemble the crowns of fir and spruce species of subalpine and arctic regions. Santa Lucia Firs occur in the upper watersheds of the Carmel, Little Sur, Big Sur, Arroyo Seco, San Antonio and Nacimiento Rivers, and in the watersheds of a number of coastal streams which drain directly into the Pacific Ocean. To the north populations are scattered from Skinner's Ridge to Miller's Canyon, with additional populations east of Tassajara Road in Anastasia Canyon and in the canyon of Calaboose Creek. Southward the populations gradually become restricted to the Coast Ridge, although there is a population on the north slope of Junipero Serra Peak (in the canyon of Santa Lucia Creek). The southern-most documented populations are located in the watershed of the Arroyo de la Cruz (near Hearst's Castle), in northwestern San Luis Obispo County. The largest concentrations occur from the Ventana Double Cone area to Miller's Canyon, and in the vicinity of Cone Peak. The trees are largely restricted to canyon bottoms, talus slopes and rock outcrops or cliffs (especially on north or partially north facing slopes), and most populations occur between about 2,000 feet and 5,000 feet.

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