Abies grandis - Grand fir description

Scientific name: Abies grandis  (Douglas ex D. Don) Lindley  1833

Synonyms: Abies aromatica Raf., Abies excelsior Franco, Abies gordoniana Carriere, Abies grandis subsp. idahoensis (Silba) Silba, Abies grandis var. idahoensis Silba,   Abies lasiocarpa Lindl. & Gordon, Abies occidentalis Cinovskis, Abies parsonii auct., Abies parsonsiana Mast., Picea grandis (Douglas ex D.Don) Loudon, Picea parsonsii Gordon, Pinus grandis Douglas ex D. Don

Common names: Grand fir, Giant fir, Lowland white fir, Great silver fir, Western white fir, Vancouver fir, Oregon fir, Stinking fir, Yellow fir

Description

Tree to 75(-90) m tall (hence the scientific and common names), with trunk to 1.5(-2) m in diameter. Bark grey when young, becoming brown and shallowly ridged and furrowed with age. Branchlets minutely hairy at first, not grooved. Buds 1.5-3 mm long, resinous. Needles predominantly arranged to the sides of the twigs on both upper and lower branches, (1-)2-5(-6) cm long, dark green above, the tips usually notched. Individual needles flat to slightly plump in cross section and with a small resin canal on either side near the edges just inside the lower epidermis, without stomates above and with five to seven rows of stomates in each white stomatal band beneath. Pollen cones 12-18 mm long, various colors from greenish through reddish tinges to purple. Seed cones more or less cylindrical, (5-)6-10(-12) cm long, 3-3.5(-4) cm across, various colors from dark green through gray to purple when young, maturing reddish brown. Bracts much shorter than the densely hairy seed scales and hidden by them. Persistent cone axis narrowly conical. Seed body 6-9 mm long, the wing about as long or a little longer. Cotyledons mostly five or six.

Northwestern United States and adjacent Canada from southern British Columbia to coastal northern California and central Idaho. Mixed conifer forests of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), and redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) on moist soils; 0-1,500(-1,850) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

Varieties:

Abies grandis ’Aurea’    
Abies grandis ’Aurifolia’    
Abies grandis ’Aurora Twister’
Abies grandis ’Baby Grand’
Abies grandis ’Broom #2’
Abies grandis ’Burgsteinfurt’
Abies grandis ’By Home’
Abies grandis ’Cascade Falls’
Abies grandis ’Chevreloup’
Abies grandis ’Compacta’
Abies grandis ’Crassa’
Abies grandis ’Deliverance’
Abies grandis ’Dr. Johnsen’
Abies grandis ’Erik’s Petite’
Abies grandis ’Henksgarden WB’
Abies grandis ’Howell Prairie’”
Abies grandis ’Johnsonii’
Abies grandis ’Kootenai’
Abies grandis ’Leuteneggeri’
Abies grandis ’Libby’
Abies grandis ’Little Treasure’
Abies grandis ’Louňovice’
Abies grandis ’Meindersveen‘
Abies grandis ’Mlékosrby’
Abies grandis ’Mrs. Collier’s Pet Duck’
Abies grandis ’Nana’
Abies grandis ’Pendula’
Abies grandis ’Pinie Glen’
Abies grandis ’Pumila’
Abies grandis ’Real Grande’  
Abies grandis ’Reggear’
Abies grandis ’Seely Lake’
Abies grandis ’Šimánek’  
Abies grandis ’Steigerwald’
Abies grandis ’Steinfürt’
Abies grandis ’Tiny Treasure’
Abies grandis ’Tucson’
Abies grandis ’Van Dedem’s Dwarf’  
Abies grandis ’Vanc’
Abies grandis ’Vonderhorst’ 
Abies grandis ’W. C. Gaffney’
Abies grandis ’Zaaling Zwerg’
Abies grandis ’Zwergform’

Attribution from: Conifers Garden