''Abies procera'', the noble fir, also called red fir, is a species of

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

native to the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

and

Pacific Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States; ; ) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Althoug ...

of the northwestern Pacific Coast of the United States. It occurs at altitudes of .

Description

''A. procera'' is a large

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

with a narrow conic crown, growing up to tall and in trunk diameter, rarely to tall and thick. The bark on young trees is smooth and gray with

resin A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...

blisters, becoming red-brown, rough and fissured on old trees, usually less than thick; the inner bark is reddish. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are needle-like, long, glaucous blue-green above and below with strong

stoma In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek language, Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the Epidermis (botany), epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exc ...

l bands, and a blunt to notched tip. They are arranged spirally on the shoot, but twisted slightly S-shaped to be upcurved above the shoot. The cones are upright, long and thick, with the purple scales almost completely hidden by the long exserted yellow-green bract scales; they ripen brown and disintegrate to release the winged

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s in fall. Viable seeds are only produced every few years. The species can grow for up to 200 years.

Taxonomy

David Douglas discovered the species in the

in the early 19th century, calling it "noble fir". The specific epithet ''procera'' means "tall". It is the world's tallest true fir.

Distribution

The species is native to the Cascade Range and

of western Washington and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, as well as the extreme northwest of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is a high-altitude tree, typically occurring at altitudes of , often above , and only rarely reaching the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

Ecology

The species is closely related to ''

Abies magnifica ''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rare ...

'' (red fir), which replaces it further southeast in southernmost Oregon and California, being best distinguished by the leaves having a groove along the midrib on the upper side; red fir does not show this. Red fir also tends to have the leaves less closely packed, with the shoot bark visible between the leaves, whereas the shoot is largely hidden in noble fir. Red fir cones also mostly have shorter bracts, except in ''A. magnifica'' var. ''shastensis'' (Shasta red fir); this variety hybridizes with noble fir and may itself be a hybrid between noble fir and red fir. As opposed to Shasta red fir, noble fir is shade-intolerant, leaving its lower trunk branchless. Noble fir occurs with

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

and western hemlock at middle elevations, and with Pacific silver fir and mountain hemlock at higher elevations. It occurs in cool, humid areas similar to those occupied by Pacific silver fir. While it benefits from occasional disturbances (e.g. the

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens In March 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. A series of Phreatic eruption, phreatic blasts occurred from the summit and escalated until a major ...

), it is very susceptible to fire but is usually protected by its moist environment. It is relatively resistant to damage from wind, insects or diseases. Although the roots grow slowly, it can survive in rocky soil as long as it is moist.

Uses

The Paiute used the foliage to treat coughs and colds. The superior light and strong

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

was recognized early by loggers, who called it "larch" to avoid conflating it with inferior firs. The wood is used for specialized applications such as ladders, general structural purposes and

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

manufacture. It may have been used for the frames of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

's Mosquito bombers during World War II. David Douglas sent noble fir seeds to Britain in 1830, introducing it to horticulturalists. It is a popular and favored

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

. The prostrate gray

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

''A. procera'' (Glauca Group) 'Glauca Prostrata' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. Noble fir has become

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in Britain (particularly in Scotland) and Denmark. File:Noble Fir, young naturalised tree with cones, Northumberland.jpg, The large cones are heavy enough that the branch bearing them can twist under their weight File:Weibliche Zapfen der Edeltanne (Abies procera)02.JPG, Cones File:Abies procera.jpg, Foliage

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Abies procera'' (noble fir)

Interactive Distribution Map of ''Abies procera''

��Gymnosperm Database
Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Abies procera''

��'' Arboretum de Villardebelle''
photos of foliage and cones
��''Arboretum de Villardebelle''
''Abies procera''
��U.C. Photo gallery {{Taxonbar, from=Q1283223 procera Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Klamath Mountains Least concern flora of the United States Trees of Northern America Taxa named by Alfred Rehder