Abies alba - European silver fir description

Scientific name: Abies alba   P. Miller 1759

Synonyms: Abies abies Rusby, Abies argentea Chambray, Abies baldensis (Zuccagni) Zucc. ex Nyman, Abies candicans Fisch. ex Endl., Abies chlorocarpa Purk. ex Nyman, Abies duplex Hormuz. ex Beissn., Abies excelsa Link, Abies metensis Gordon, Abies miniata Knight ex Gordon, Abies minor Gilib., Abies nobilis A.Dietr., Abies pardei Gaussen, Abies pectinata (Lam.) Lam. & DC., Abies picea (L.) Lindl., Abies rinzii K.Koch, Abies taxifolia Duhamel, Abies taxifolia Desf., Abies taxifolia Raf., Abies tenuirifolia Beissn., Abies vulgaris Poir., Peuce abies Rich., Picea excelsa Wender., Picea kukunaria Wender., Picea metensis Gordon, Picea pectinata (Lam.) Loudon, Picea pyramidalis Gordon, Picea rinzi Gordon, Picea tenuifolia Beissn., Pinus abies Du Roi, Pinus baldensisZuccagni, Pinus heterophylla K.Koch, Pinus lucida Salisb., Pinus pectinata Lam., Pinus picea L.

Common names: European silver fir, Common silver fir, Silver fir

Description

Tree to 45(-60) m tall, with trunk to 1.5(-3) m in diameter. Bark light gray, becoming checkered with age. Branchlets densely hairy, not grooved. Buds 3.5-4(-6) mm long, not resinous. Needles arranged to the sides and above the twigs, 1.5-3 cm long, dark green above, the tip notched (or pointed). Individual needles plump in cross section and with a resin canal on either side near the edge just inside the lower epidermis, without stomates above and with seven to nine rows of stomates in each silvery stomatal band beneath. Pollen cones about 2 cm long, greenish yellow. Seed cones roughly cylindrical, 10-20 cm long, 3-4 cm across, green or purple-tinged when young, maturing reddish brown. Bracts emerging from between the scales and turned down. Persistent cone axis narrowly conical. Seed body 7-11 mm long, the wing a little longer. Cotyledons mostly five.

Central and southern Europe from the Pyrenees to Bulgaria and Poland-Belarus frontier. Forming pure stands or mixed with other species in montane forests; (300-)500-1,950 m. The preferred climate is cool temperate, comparatively humid (precipitation often >1,000 mm/year), with abundant snowfall but moderately low temperatures in the winter.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

Varieties:

Abies alba ’Aargau’
Abies alba ’Aurea’
Abies alba ’Aureovariegata’
Abies alba ’Auricoma’
Abies alba ’Bad Wildungen’
Abies alba ’Baldensis’
Abies alba ’Barabits Spreading’
Abies alba ’Barabits Star’
Abies alba ’Barabitsii’
Abies alba ’Brevifolia’
Abies alba ’Bystřička’
Abies alba ’Candicans’
Abies alba ’Cinerea’
Abies alba ’Columnaris’
Abies alba ’Compacta’
Abies alba ’Contorta’
Abies alba ’Cree’s Blue’
Abies alba ’Elegans’
Abies alba ’Fastigiata’
Abies alba ’Flabellata’
Abies alba ’Foliis variegata’
Abies alba ’Gelbbunt’
Abies alba ’Globosa’
Abies alba ’Graciosa’
Abies alba ’Green Spiral’
Abies alba ’Hedge’
Abies alba ’Hochstuckli’
Abies alba ’Irramosa’
Abies alba ’King’s Dwarf’
Abies alba ’Kremnica’
Abies alba ’Massonii’
Abies alba ’Metensis’
Abies alba ’Microcarpa’
Abies alba ’Microphylla’
Abies alba ’Minor’
Abies alba ’Mlada Boleslav’
Abies alba ’Nana’
Abies alba ’Pendula’
Abies alba ’Pendula Gracilis’
Abies alba ’Prostrata’
Abies alba ’Pumila’
Abies alba ’Pygmy’
Abies alba ’Pyramidalis’
Abies alba ’Recurva’
Abies alba ’Scarabantia’
Abies alba ’Schwarzwald’
Abies alba ’Tenuifolia’
Abies alba ’Tenuiorifolia’
Abies alba ’Umbraculifera’
Abies alba ’Variegata’
Abies alba ’Virgata’

Attribution from: Conifers Garden