''Magnolia pugana'', commonly known as almacasusco, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

'' from northern

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

and southern

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

states in western

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Description

''Magnolia pugana'' is a medium-sized tree, growing 15 to 25 meters tall, with a trunk up to 40–80 cm in diameter.

Range and habitat

''Magnolia pugana'' is found in the valleys and canyons of the middle

Río Grande de Santiago The Río Grande de Santiago, or Santiago River, is a river in western Mexico. It flows westwards from Lake Chapala via Ocotlán through the states of Jalisco and Nayarit to empty into the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the longest rivers in Mexic ...

and lower reaches of the

Juchipila Juchipila (Caxcan: ''Xuchipilan'', "place of flowered nobles") is a Municipalities of Zacatecas, municipality in the Mexico, Mexican state of Zacatecas, located approximately southwest of the state capital Zacatecas City. Geography The municipali ...

and Verde rivers, and on the slopes of the neighboring

Sierra de Morones The Sierra de Morones is a mountain range in west-central Mexico. Geography The Sierra de Morones extends north and south through the state of Zacatecas. The Sierra, together with the Sierra Fría to the east and the Sierra los Huicholes to the ...

and

Sierra Fría The Sierra Fría is a mountain range in central Mexico. It forms the northwestern border of Aguascalientes state and extends into adjacent Zacatecas, west of the city of Aguascalientes City, Aguascalientes. Geography The Sierra Fría is the sout ...

ranges, in northern Jalisco and southern Zacatecas states. It occurs in mountainside

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

s, and more commonly in humid ravines and riparian forests along permanent streams in dry deciduous forests, from 1,300 to 1,600 meters elevation. It has a very restricted range, with an

area of occupancy Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-dimen ...

(AOO) of 114 km² and an

extent of occurrence Extent may refer to: Computing * Extent (file systems), a contiguous region of computer storage medium reserved for a file * Extent File System, a discontinued file system implementation named after the contiguous region * Extent, a chunk of st ...

of approximately 2,460 km².

Conservation

The species has a restricted range and is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

from deforestation and conversion of its habitat to agriculture and urbanization. Its population is decreasing, and its conservation status is assessed as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Systematics

''Magnolia pugana'' belongs to sect. ''Magnolia''. Other closely related species live in western Mexico and constitute the ''Magnolia pacifica'' group – ''

Magnolia pacifica ''Magnolia pacifica'' is a species of '' Magnolia'' from Jalisco and Nayarit states in western Mexico. Description ''Magnolia pacifica'' is a medium-sized tree, growing 15 to 25 meters tall, with a trunk up to 40–80 cm in diameter. Range and ...

'' from the coast-facing mountains of Nayarit and western Jalisco, and ''

Magnolia vallartensis ''Magnolia vallartensis'' is a species of ''Magnolia'' from Jalisco state in western Mexico. Description ''Magnolia vallartensis'' is a medium-sized tree, growing to about 15 meters tall. Range and habitat ''Magnolia vallartensis'' is native to ...

'' from the Pacific lowlands around

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...

.Vázquez-García, José & Muñiz-Castro, Miguel Angel & Dahua-Machoa, Alex & Osorio-Muñoz, Edson & Hernández-Vera, Gerardo & Ortega-Peña, Alondra Salome & Jacobo-Pereira, César & Romo Campos, Rosa & Roman, Noelia & Shalisko, Viacheslav. (2020). "How to Save Endangered Magnolias?" in ''Population Biology to Conservation Action: The Case of Allopatric Radiation in Western Mexico''. 10.5772/intechopen.94346. ''M. pugana'' and ''M. vallartensis'' are sometimes classed as subspecies of ''M. pacifica''. Vázquez-García ''et al.'' consider the eastern population of ''M. pugana'' from the Río Verde region in

Zapotlanejo Zapotlanejo is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, there were 64,806 inhabitants in the municipality. The municipality has a territorial extension of 718.8 km2. Toponymy Zapotlanejo is a h ...

and

Ixtlahuacán del Río Ixtlahuacán del Rio is a town and municipality in the center of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco, a little less than from state capital Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara. It stands at above sea level; the climate is semi-arid, wi ...

municipalities north of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, known as the Barrancae Group, to be separate species, ''M. granbarrancae''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15493889 pugana Endemic flora of Mexico Trees of Northern America Flora of the Sierra Madre Occidental Flora of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt