6. ABIES Link. Fir.
Tall pyramidal trees, with bark containing numerous resin-vesicles, smooth, pale, and thin on young trees, often thick and deeply furrowed in old age, pale and usually brittle wood, slender horizontal wide-spreading branches in regular remote 4 or 5-branched whorls, clothed with twice or thrice forked lateral branches forming flat-topped masses of foliage gradually narrowed from the base to the apex of the branch, the ultimate divisions stout, glabrous or pubescent, and small subglobose or ovoid winter branch-buds usually thickly covered with resin, or in one species large and acute, with thin loosely imbricated scales. Leaves linear, sessile, on young plants and on lower sterile branches flattened and mostly grooved on the upper side, or in one species 4-sided, rounded and usually emarginate at apex, appearing 2-ranked by a twist near their base or occasionally spreading from all sides of the branch, only rarely stomatiferous above, on upper fertile branches and leading shoots usually crowded, more or less erect, often incurved or falcate, thick, convex on the upper side, or quadrangular in some species and then obtuse, or acute at apex and frequently stomatiferous on all sides; persistent usually for eight or ten years, in falling leaving small circular scars. Flowers axillary, from buds formed the previous season on branchlets of the year, surrounded at the base by conspicuous involucres of enlarged bud-scales, the male very abundant on the lower side of branches above the middle of the tree, oval or oblong-cylindric with yellow or scarlet anthers surmounted by short knob-like projections, the female usually on the upper side only of the topmost branches, or in some species scattered also over the upper half of the tree, erect, globose, ovoid or oblong, their scales imbricated in many series, obovate, rounded above, cuneate below, much shorter than their acute or dilated mucronate bracts. Fruit an erect ovoid or oblong-cylindric cone, its scales closely imbricated, thin, incurved at the broad apex and generally narrowed below into long stipes, decreasing in size and sterile toward the ends of the cone, falling at maturity with their bracts and seeds from the stout tapering axis of the cone long-persistent on the branch. Seeds furnished with large conspicuous resin-vesicles, ovoid or oblong, acute at base, covered on the upper side and infolded below on the lower side by the base of their thin wing abruptly enlarged at the oblique apex; seed-coat thin, of 2 layers, the outer thick, coriaceous, the inner membranaceous; cotyledons 4—10, much shorter than the inferior radicle.
Abies is widely distributed in the New World from Labrador and the valley of the Athabasca River to the mountains of North Carolina, and from Alaska through the Pacific and Rocky Mountain regions to the highlands of Guatemala, and in the Old World from Siberia and the mountains of central Europe to southern Japan, central China, Formosa, the Himalayas, Asia Minor, and the highlands of northern Africa. Thirty-three species are now recognized. Several exotic species are cultivated in the northern and eastern states; of these the best known and most successful as ornamental trees are Abies Nordmanniana, Spach, of the Caucasus, Abies cilicica Carr., of Asia Minor, Abies cephalonica Loud., a native of Cephalonia, Abies Veitchii Lindl., and Abies homolepis S. & Z., of Japan, and Abies pinsapo, Boiss., of the Spanish Sierra Nevada.
Abies is the classical name of the Fir-tree.
CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES.
Winter-buds subglobose, with closely imbricated scales. Leaves flat and grooved above, with stomata on the lower surface (in Nos. 3 and 5, also on the upper surface), rounded and often notched, or on fertile branches frequently acute at apex. Leaves on sterile branches spreading, not crowded. Cones purple. Leaves dark green and lustrous above, pale below. Bracts of the cone-scales much longer than their scales, reflexed.1. [A. Fraseri] (A). Bracts of the cone-scales shorter or rarely slightly longer than their scales.2. [A. balsamea] (A). Leaves pale blue-green, stomatose above.3. [A. lasiocarpa] (B, F, G). Cones green (green, yellow, and purple in No. 5). Leaves dark green and lustrous above, pale below.4. [A. grandis] (B, G). Leaves pale blue or glaucous, often stomatose above on the upper surface.5. [A. concolor] (F, G, H). Leaves on sterile branches pointing forward, densely crowded, dark green and lustrous above, pale below.6. [A. amabilis] (B, G). Leaves often 4-sided, with stomata on all surfaces, blue-green, usually glaucous, bluntly pointed or acute, incurved and crowded on fertile branches; cones purple. Leaves of sterile branches flattened and distinctly grooved above; bracts of the cone-scales rounded and fimbriate above, long-pointed, incurved, light green, much longer than and covering their scales.7. [A. nobilis] (G). Leaves of sterile branches 4-sided; bracts of the cone-scales acute or acuminate or rounded above, with slender tips shorter or longer than their scales.8. [A. magnifica] (G). Winter-buds acuminate, with loosely imbricated scales; bracts of the cone-scales produced into elongated ridged flat tips many times longer than the obtusely pointed scales; leaves acuminate, dark yellow-green above, white below, similar on sterile and fertile branches.9. [A. venusta] (G).
1. [Abies Fraseri] Poir. Balsam Fir. She Balsam.
Leaves obtusely short-pointed or occasionally slightly emarginate at apex, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, marked on the lower surface by wide bands of 8—12 rows of stomata, ½′ to nearly 1′ long, about 1/16′ wide. Flowers: male yellow tinged with red; female with scales rounded above, much broader than long and shorter than their oblong pale yellow-green bracts rounded at the broad apex terminating in a slender elongated tip. Fruit oblong-ovoid or nearly oval, rounded at the somewhat narrowed apex, dark purple, puberulous, about 2½′ long, with scales twice as wide as long, at maturity nearly half covered by their pale yellow-green reflexed bracts; seeds ⅛′ long, with dark lustrous wings much expanded and very oblique at apex.
A tree, usually 30°—40° and rarely 70° high, with a trunk occasionally 2½° in diameter, and rather rigid branches forming an open symmetrical pyramid and often disappearing early from the lower part of the trunk, and stout branchlets pubescent for three or four years, pale yellow-brown during their first season, becoming dark reddish brown often tinged with purple, and obtuse orange-brown winter-buds. Bark ¼′—½′ thick, covered with thin closely appressed bright cinnamon-red scales, generally becoming gray on old trees. Wood light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, pale brown, with nearly white sapwood; occasionally manufactured into lumber.
Distribution: Appalachian Mountains; Cheat Mountain, near Cheat Bridge, Randolph County, West Virginia, and from southwestern Virginia to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, often forming forests of considerable extent at elevations between 4000° and 6000° above the sea-level.
Occasionally planted in the parks and gardens of the northern states and of Europe, but short-lived in cultivation and of little value as an ornamental tree.
2. [Abies balsamea] Mill. Balsam Fir.
Leaves dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, silvery white on the lower surface, with bands of 4—8 rows of stomata, ½′ long on cone-bearing branches to 1¼′ long on the sterile branches of young trees, straight, acute or acuminate, with short or elongated rigid callous tips, spreading at nearly right angles to the branch on young trees and sterile branches, on the upper branches of older trees often broadest above the middle, rounded or obtusely short-pointed at apex, occasionally emarginate on branches at the top of the tree. Flowers: male yellow, more or less deeply tinged with reddish purple; female with nearly orbicular purple scales much shorter than their oblong-obovate serrulate pale yellow-green bracts emarginate with a broad apex abruptly contracted into a long slender recurved tip. Fruit oblong-cylindric, gradually narrowed to the rounded apex, puberulous, dark rich purple, 2′—4′ long, with scales usually longer than broad, generally almost twice as long; rarely not as long as their bracts, (var. phanerolepis Fern.); seeds about ¼′ long and rather shorter than their light brown wings.
A tree, 50°—60° high, with a trunk usually 12′—18′; or rarely 30′ in diameter, spreading branches forming a handsome symmetrical slender-pyramid, the lower branches soon dying from trees crowded in the forest, and slender branchlets pale yellow-green and coated with fine pubescence at first, becoming light gray tinged with red, and often when four or five years old with purple. Winter-buds nearly globose, ⅛′—¼′ in diameter, with lustrous dark orange-green scales. Bark on old trees often ½′ thick, rich brown, much broken on the surface into small plates covered with scales. Wood light, soft, not strong, coarse-grained, perishable, pale brown streaked with yellow, with thick lighter colored sapwood; occasionally made into lumber principally used for packing-cases. From the bark of this tree oil of fir used in the arts and in medicine is obtained.
Distribution. From the interior of the Labrador peninsula westward to the shores of Lesser Slave Lake, southward through Newfoundland, the maritime provinces of Canada, Quebec and Ontario, northern New England, northern New York, northern Michigan to the shores of Saginaw Bay, and northern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa, and along the Appalachian Mountains from western Massachusetts and the Catskills of New York to the high mountains of southwestern Virginia; common and often forming a considerable part of the forest on low swampy ground; on well-drained hillsides sometimes singly in forests of spruce or forming small almost impenetrable thickets; in northern Wisconsin and vicinity occurs a form with longer and more crowded leaves and larger cones (var. macrocarpa Kent); near the timber-line on the mountains of New England and New York reduced to a low almost prostrate shrub.
Sometimes planted in the northern states in the neighborhood of farmhouses, but usually short-lived and of little value as an ornamental tree in cultivation; formerly but now rarely cultivated in European plantations; a dwarf form (var. hudsonica Englm.) growing only a few inches high and spreading into broad nests is often cultivated.
3. [Abies lasiocarpa] Nutt. Balsam Fir.
Leaves marked on the upper surface but generally only above the middle with 4 or 5 rows of stomata on each side of the conspicuous midrib and on the lower surface by 2 broad bands each of 7 or 8 rows, crowded, nearly erect by the twist at their base, on lower branches 1′—1¾′ long, about 1/12′ wide, and rounded and occasionally emarginate at apex, on upper branches somewhat thickened, usually acute, generally not more than ½′ long, on leading shoots flattened, closely appressed, with long slender rigid points. Flowers: male dark indigo-blue, turning violet when nearly ready to open; female with dark violet-purple obovate scales much shorter than their strongly reflexed bracts contracted into slender tips. Fruit oblong-cylindric, rounded, truncate or depressed at the narrowed apex, dark purple, puberulous, 2½′—4′ long, with scales gradually narrowed from the broad rounded or nearly truncate apex to the base, usually longer than broad, about three times as long as their oblong-obovate red-brown bracts laciniately cut on the margins, rounded, emarginate and abruptly contracted at the apex into long slender tips; seeds ¼′ long, with dark lustrous wings covering nearly the entire surface of the scales.
A tree, usually 80°—100°, occasionally 175°, or southward rarely more than 50° high, with a trunk 2°—5° in diameter, short crowded tough branches, usually slightly pendulous near the base of the tree, generally clothing the trunks of the oldest trees nearly to their base and forming dense spire-like slender heads, and comparatively stout branchlets coated for three or four years with fine rufous pubescence, or rarely glabrous before the end of their first season, pale orange-brown, ultimately gray or silvery white. Winter-buds subglobose, ⅛′—¼′ thick, covered with light orange-brown scales. Bark becoming on old trees ¾′—1½′ thick, divided by shallow fissures and roughened by thick closely appressed cinnamon-red scales; on the San Francisco Mountains, Arizona, thicker and spongy (var. arizonica Lem.). Wood light, soft, not strong, pale brown or nearly white, with light-colored sapwood; little used except for fuel.
Distribution. High mountain slopes and summits from about latitude 61° in Alaska, southward along the coast ranges to the Olympic Mountains of Washington, over all the high mountain ranges of British Columbia and Alberta, and southward along the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon to the neighborhood of Crater Lake, over the mountain ranges of eastern Washington and Oregon, and of Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah to the San Francisco peaks of northern Arizona, and on the Sandia and Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico.
Occasionally planted as an ornamental tree in the northern United States and in northern Europe, but of little value in cultivation.
4. [Abies grandis] Lindl. White Fir.
Leaves thin and flexible, deeply grooved very dark green and lustrous on upper surface, silvery white on lower surface, with two broad bands of 7—10 rows of stomata, on sterile branches remote, rounded and conspicuously emarginate at apex, 1½′—2¼′ long, usually about ⅛′ wide, spreading in two ranks nearly at right angles to the branch, on cone-bearing branches more crowded, usually 1′—1½′ long, less spreading or nearly erect, blunt-pointed or often notched at apex, on vigorous young trees ½′—¾′ long, acute or acuminate, usually persistent 4—10 years. Flowers: male pale yellow sometimes tinged with purple; female light yellow-green, with semiorbicular scales and short-oblong bracts emarginate and denticulate at the broad obcordate apex furnished with a short strongly reflexed tip. Fruit cylindric, slightly narrowed to the rounded and sometimes retuse apex, puberulous, bright green, 2′—4′ long, with scales usually about two thirds as long as wide, gradually or abruptly narrowed from their broad apex and three or four times as long as their short pale green bracts; seeds ⅜′ in length, light brown, with pale lustrous wings ½′—⅝′ long and nearly as broad as their abruptly widened rounded apex.
A tree, in the neighborhood of the coast 250°—300° high, with a slightly tapering trunk often 4° in diameter, long somewhat pendulous branches sweeping out in graceful curves, and comparatively slender pale yellow-green puberulous branchlets becoming light reddish brown or orange-brown and glabrous in their second season; on the mountains of the interior rarely more than 100° tall, with a trunk usually about 2° in diameter, often smaller and much stunted at high elevations. Winter-buds subglobose, ⅛′—¼′ thick. Bark becoming sometimes 2′ thick at the base of old trees and gray-brown or reddish brown and divided by shallow fissures into low flat ridges broken into oblong plates roughened by thick closely appressed scales. Wood light, soft, coarse-grained, not strong nor durable, light brown, with thin lighter colored sapwood; occasionally manufactured into lumber in western Washington and Oregon and used for the interior finish of buildings, packing-cases, and wooden-ware.
Distribution. Northern part of Vancouver Island southward in the neighborhood of the coast to northern Sonoma County, California, and along the mountains of northern Washington and Idaho to the western slopes of the continental divide in northern Montana, and to the mountains of eastern Oregon; near the coast scattered on moist ground through forests of other conifers; common in Washington and northern Oregon from the sea up to elevations of 4000°; in the interior on moist slopes in the neighborhood of streams from 2500° up to 7000° above the sea; in California rarely ranging more than ten miles inland or ascending to altitudes of more than 1500° above the sea.
Occasionally planted in the parks and gardens of temperate Europe, where it grows rapidly and promises to attain a large size; rarely planted in the United States.
5. [Abies concolor] Lindl. & Gord. White Fir.
Leaves crowded, spreading in 2 ranks and more or less erect from the strong twist at their base, pale blue or glaucous, becoming dull green at the end of two or three years, with 2 broad bands of stomata on the lower, and more or less stomatiferous on the upper surface, on lower branches flat, straight, rounded, acute or acuminate at apex, 2′—3′ long, about 1/16′ wide, on fertile branches and on old trees frequently thick, keeled above, usually falcate, acute or rarely notched at apex, ¾′—1½′ long, often ⅛′ wide. Flowers: male dark red or rose color; female with broad rounded scales, and oblong strongly reflexed obcordate bracts laciniate above the middle and abruptly contracted at apex into short points. Fruit oblong, slightly narrowed from near the middle to the ends, rounded or obtuse at apex, 3′—5′ long, puberulous, grayish green, dark purple or bright canary-yellow, with scales much broader than long, gradually and regularly narrowed from the rounded apex, rather more than twice as long as their emarginate or nearly truncate bracts broad at the apex and terminating in short slender tips; seeds ⅓′—½′ long, acute at base, dark dull brown, with lustrous rose-colored wings widest near the middle and nearly truncate at apex.
A tree, on the California sierras 200°—250° high, with a trunk often 6° in diameter or in the interior of the continent rarely more than 125° tall, with a trunk seldom exceeding 3° in diameter, a narrow spire-like crown of short stout branches clothed with long lateral branches pointing forward and forming great frond-like masses of foliage, and glabrous lustrous comparatively stout branchlets dark orange color during their first season, becoming light grayish green or pale reddish brown, and ultimately gray or grayish brown. Winter-buds subglobose, ⅛′—¼′ thick. Bark becoming on old trunks sometimes 5′—6′ thick near the ground and deeply divided into broad rounded ridges broken on the surface into irregularly shaped plate-like scales. Wood very light, soft, coarse-grained and not strong nor durable, pale brown or sometimes nearly whiter occasionally manufactured into lumber, in northern California used for packing-cases and butter-tubs.
Distribution. Rocky Mountains of southern Colorado, westward to the mountain ranges of California, extending northward into northern Oregon, and southward over the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona into northern Mexico and Lower California (Mt. San Pedro Mártir Mountains); the only Fir-tree in the arid regions of the Great Basin, of southern New Mexico and Arizona, and of the mountain forests of southern California.
Often planted as an ornamental tree in Europe (the California form usually as A. Lowiana Murr.) and in the eastern states where it grows more vigorously than other Fir-trees.
6. [Abies amabilis] Forbes. White Fir.
Leaves deeply grooved, very dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, silvery white on the lower, with broad bands of 6 or 8 rows of stomata between the prominent midribs and incurved margins, on sterile branches obtuse and rounded, or notched or occasionally acute at apex, ¾′—1¼′ long, 1/16′—1/12′ wide, often broadest above the middle, erect by a twist at their base, very crowded, those on the upper side of the branch much shorter than those on the lower and usually parallel with and closely appressed against it, on fertile branches acute or acuminate with callous tips, occasionally stomatiferous on the upper surface near the apex, ½′—¾′ long; on vigorous leading shoots acute, with long rigid points, closely appressed or recurved near the middle, about ¾′ long and nearly ⅛′ wide. Flowers: male red; female with broad rounded scales and rhombic dark purple lustrous bracts erose above the middle and gradually contracted into broad points. Fruit oblong, slightly narrowed to the rounded and often retuse apex, deep rich purple, puberulous, 3½′—6′ long, with scales 1′—1⅛′ wide, nearly as long as broad, gradually narrowed from the rounded apex and rather more than twice as long as their reddish rhombic or oblong-obovate bracts terminating in long slender tips; seeds light yellow-brown, ½′ long, with oblique pale brown lustrous wings about ¾′ long.
A tree, often 250° tall, or at high altitudes and in the north usually not more than 70°—80° tall, with a trunk 4°—6° in diameter, in thick forests often naked for 150°, but in open situations densely clothed to the ground with comparatively short branches sweeping down in graceful curves, and stout branchlets clothed for four or five years with soft fine pubescence, light orange-brown in their first season, becoming dark purple and ultimately reddish brown. Winter-buds nearly globose, ⅛′—¼′ thick, with closely imbricated lustrous purple scales. Bark on trees up to 150 years old thin, smooth, pale or silvery white, becoming near the ground on old trees 1½′—2½′ thick, and irregularly divided into comparatively small plates covered with small closely appressed reddish brown or reddish gray scales. Wood light, hard, not strong, close-grained, pale brown, with nearly white sapwood; in Washington occasionally manufactured into lumber used in the interior finish of buildings.
Distribution. High mountain slopes and benches from southeastern Alaska (Boca de Quadra Inlet and Sandfly Bay), to Vancouver Island and southward along the coast ranges to Saddle Mountain near Astoria, Oregon, and on the Cascade Mountains to the slopes of Old Bailey Mountain, Oregon, ranging from the sea level at the north to elevations of from 3000°—6000° southward; attaining its largest size on the Olympic Mountains of Washington, where it is the most common Fir-tree.
Occasionally cultivated as an ornamental tree in the eastern states and in western Europe, but without developing the beauty which distinguishes this species in its native forests.
7. [Abies nobilis] Lindl. Red Fir.
Leaves marked on the upper surface with a deep sharply defined groove, rounded and obscurely ribbed on the lower surface, stomatiferous above and below, dark or light blue-green, often very glaucous during their first season, crowded in several rows, those on the lower side of the branch two-ranked by the twisting of their bases, the others crowded, strongly incurved, with the points erect or pointing away from the end of the branch, on young plants and on the lower sterile branches of old trees flat, rounded, usually slightly notched at apex, 1′—1½′ long, about 1/16′ wide, on fertile branches much thickened and almost equally 4-sided, acuminate, with long rigid callous tips, ½′—¾′ long, on leading shoots flat, gradually narrowed from the base, acuminate, with long rigid points, about 1′ long. Flowers: male reddish purple; female often scattered over the upper part of the tree, with broad rounded scales much shorter than their nearly orbicular bracts erose on the margins and contracted above into slender elongated strongly reflexed tips. Fruit oblong-cylindric, slightly narrowed but full and rounded at apex, 4′—5′ long, purple or olive-brown, pubescent, with scales about one third wider than long, gradually narrowed from the rounded apex to the base, or full at the sides, rounded and denticulate above the middle and sharply contracted and wedge-shaped below, nearly or entirely covered by their strongly reflexed pale green spatulate bracts full and rounded above, fimbriate on the margins, with broad midribs produced into short broad flattened points; seeds ½′ long, pale reddish brown, about as long as their wings, gradually narrowed from below to the nearly truncate slightly rounded apex.
A tree, in old age with a comparatively broad somewhat rounded head, usually 150°—200° and occasionally 250° high, with a trunk 6°—8° in diameter, short rigid branches, short stout remote lateral branches standing out at right angles, and slender reddish brown branchlets puberulous for four or five years and generally pointing forward. Winter-buds ovoid-oblong, red-brown, about ⅛′ long. Bark becoming on old trunks 1′—2′ thick, bright red-brown, and deeply divided into broad flat ridges irregularly broken by cross fissures and covered with thick closely appressed scales. Wood light, hard, strong, rather close-grained, pale brown streaked with red, with darker colored sapwood; occasionally manufactured into lumber and used under the name of larch for the interior finish of buildings and for packing-cases.
Distribution. Slopes of Mt. Baker in northern Washington and southward to the valley of the Mackenzie River, Oregon, and the Siskiyou Mountains, California, at elevations of from 2000°—5000° above the sea; most abundant and often forming extensive forests on the Cascade Mountains of Washington; less abundant and of smaller size on the eastern and northern slopes of these mountains. In Oregon sometimes called Larch.
Often planted in western and central Europe as an ornamental tree, and in the eastern states hardy in sheltered positions as far north as Massachusetts.
8. [Abies magnifica] A. Murr. Red Fir.
Leaves almost equally 4-sided, ribbed above and below, with 6—8 rows of stomata on each of the 4 sides, pale and very glaucous during their first season, later becoming blue-green, persistent usually for about ten years; on young plants and lower branches oblanceolate, somewhat flattened, rounded, bluntly pointed, ¾′—1½′ long, 1/16′ wide, those on the lower side of the branch spreading in 2 nearly horizontal ranks by the twist at their base, on upper, especially on fertile branches, much thickened, with more prominent midribs, acute, with short callous tips, ⅓′ long on the upper side of the branch to 1¼′ long on the lower side, crowded, erect, strongly incurved, completely hiding the upper side of the branch, on leading shoots ¾′ long, erect and acuminate, with long rigid points pressed against the stem. Flowers: male dark reddish purple; female with rounded scales much shorter than their oblong pale green bracts terminating in elongated slender tips more or less tinged with red. Fruit oblong-cylindric, slightly narrowed to the rounded, truncate, or retuse apex, dark purplish brown, puberulous, from 6′—9′ long, with scales often 1½′ wide and about two thirds as wide as long, gradually narrowed to the cordate base, somewhat longer or often two thirds as long as their spatulate acute or acuminate bracts slightly serrulate above the middle and often sharply contracted and then enlarged toward the base; seeds dark reddish brown, ¾′ long, about as wide as their lustrous rose-colored obovate cuneate wings nearly truncate and often ¾′ wide at apex.
A tree, in old age occasionally somewhat round-topped, frequently 200° high, with a trunk 8°—10° in diameter and often naked for half the height of the tree, comparatively short small branches, the upper somewhat ascending, the lower pendulous, and stout light yellow-green branchlets pointing forward, slightly puberulous during their first season, becoming light red-brown and lustrous and ultimately gray or silvery white. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, ¼′⅓′ long, their bright chestnut-brown scales with prominent midribs produced into short tips. Bark becoming 4′—6′ thick near the ground, deeply divided into broad rounded ridges broken by cross fissures and covered by dark red-brown scales. Wood light, soft, not strong, comparatively durable, light red-brown, with thick somewhat darker sapwood; largely used for fuel, and in California occasionally manufactured into coarse lumber employed in the construction of cheap buildings and for packing-cases.
Distribution. Cascade Mountains of southern Oregon, southward over the mountain ranges of northern California (summits of the Trinity and Salmon Mountains and on the inner north coast ranges), and along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada to the divide between White and Kern Rivers; common in southern Oregon at elevations between 5000° and 7000° above the sea, forming sometimes nearly pure forests; very abundant on the Sierra Nevada, and the principal tree in the forest belt at elevations between 6000° and 9000°; ascending towards the southern extremity of its range to over 10,000°. Small stunted trees from the neighborhood of Meadow Lake, Sierra County, California, with yellowish cones have been described as var. xancocarpa Lemm.
Often planted as an ornamental tree in western and central Europe, and sometimes hardy in the United States as far north as eastern Massachusetts.
A distinct form is
Abies magnifica var. shastensis Lemm. Red Fir.
On the mountains of southern Oregon and at high elevations on those of northern California, and on the southern Sierra Nevada, occurs this form distinguished only by the longer rounded or obtusely pointed (not acute) bright yellow bracts which sometimes cover nearly half their scales.
9. [Abies venusta] K. Koch. Silver Fir.
Abies bracteata D. Don.
Leaves thin, flat, rigid, linear or linear-lanceolate, gradually or abruptly narrowed toward the base, often falcate, especially on fertile branches, acuminate, with long slender callous tips, dark yellow-green, lustrous and slightly rounded on the upper surface marked below the middle with an obscure groove, silvery white or on old leaves pale on the lower surface, with bands of 8—10 rows of stomata between the broad midrib and the thickened strongly revolute margins, 2-ranked from the conspicuous twist near their base and spreading at nearly right angles to the branch, or pointing forward on upper fertile branches, 1½′—2¼′ long, on leading shoots standing out at almost right angles, rounded on the upper surface, more or less incurved above the middle, 1½′—1¾′ long, about ⅛′ wide. Flowers: male produced in great numbers near the base of the branchlets on branches from the middle of the tree upward, pale yellow; female near the ends of the branchlets of the upper branches only, with oblong scales rounded above and nearly as long as their cuneate obcordate yellow-green bracts ending in slender elongated awns. Fruit on stout peduncles sometimes ½′ long, oval or subcylindric, full and rounded at apex, glabrous, pale purple-brown, 3′—4′ long, with thin scales strongly incurved above, obtusely short-pointed at apex, obscurely denticulate on the thin margins, about one third longer than their oblong-obovate obcordate pale yellow-brown bracts terminating in flat rigid tips 1′—1¾′ long, above the middle of the cone pointing toward its apex and often closely appressed to its sides, below the middle spreading toward its base and frequently much recurved, firmly attached to the cone-scales and deciduous with them from the thick conical sharp-pointed axis of the cone; seeds dark red-brown, about ⅜′ long, and nearly as long as their oblong-obovate pale reddish brown lustrous wings rounded at the apex.
A tree, 100°—150° high, with a trunk sometimes 3° in diameter, comparatively short slender usually pendulous branches furnished with long sinuous rather remote lateral branches sparsely clothed with foliage, forming a broad-based pyramid abruptly narrowed 15°—20° from the top of the tree into a thin spire-like head, and stout glabrous light reddish brown branchlets covered at first with a glaucous bloom. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, ¾′—1′ long, ¼′—⅓′ thick, with very thin, loosely imbricated, pale chestnut-brown, acute, boat-shaped scales. Bark becoming near the base of the tree ½′—¾′ thick, light reddish brown, slightly and irregularly fissured and broken into thick closely appressed scales. Wood heavy, not hard, coarse-grained, light brown tinged with yellow, with paler sapwood.
Distribution. In the moist bottoms of cañons and on dry rocky summits, usually at elevations of about 3000° above the sea on both slopes of the outer western ridge of the Santa Lucia Mountains, Monterey County, California.
Occasionally and successfully grown as an ornamental tree in the milder parts of Great Britain and in northern Italy; not hardy in the eastern United States.