Abies lasiocarpa - Subalpine fir description

Scientific name: Abies lasiocarpa  (Hooker) Nuttall   1849

Synonims: Abies amabilis Parl., Abies balsamea subsp. lasiocarpa (Hook.) B.Boivin, Abies bifolia A.Murray bis, Abies concolor var. lasiocarpa (Hook.) Beissn., Abies grandis var. lasiocarpa (Hook.) Lavallée, Abies lasciocarpa Sarg., Abies lasiocarpa var. lasiocarpa,  Abies subalpina Engelm., Abies subalpina var. fallax Engelm., Picea bifolia A.Murray bis, Picea lasiocarpa (Hook.) A.Murray bis, Pinus lasiocarpa Hook.

Infraspecific taxa: Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica (Merriam) Lemmon  1898

Common names: Subalpine fir, Alpine fir, Balsam fir, White fir, Mountain Balsam fir, White balsam, Western Balsam fir, Rocky Mountain fir

Description

Tree to 30(-40) m tall, with trunk to 1.2(-2) m in diameter. Bark reddish to dark gray when young, soon breaking up into scales or becoming thick and corky with age in the southern Rocky Mountains. Branchlets reddish brown, hairy, finely, finely grooved between the leaf attachments. Buds 3-6 mm long, resinous at the tips or overall. Needles arranged all around the twigs but turned to the sides and above on both upper and lower branches, (1-)1.5-2.5(-3) cm long, light green or bluish green with wax above, the tips notched or rounded. Individual needles flat in cross section and with a large resin canal in the center of either side, with three to six rows of stomates in a groove above and three to five rows in each stomatal band beneath. Pollen cones 13-20 mm long, greenish purple. Seed cones cylindrical, (5-)7-10(-12) cm long, (2-)3-4 cm across, dull purple when young, maturing purplish brown. Bracts much shorter than the densely short-hairy scales (hence the scientific name, “hairy fruit”) and hidden by them (except when stunted by cone insects). Persistent cone axis narrowly cylindrical. Seed body 5-7 cm long, the wing up to about twice as long. Cotyledons three to six.

Widespread in western North America, from eastern Alaska and the southern Yukon to northwestern California, southeastern Arizona, and southwestern New Mexico. Growing with other conifers such as Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), in subalpine forests; (600-)1,500-2,700(-3,650) m. The climate is everywhere cold, but humid in the NW and dry in the S of its range, precipitation varies between 500 mm and 3,000 mm annually.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

Varieties:

Abies lasiocarpa ’Alba’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Alpina’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Alpine Beauty’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Argentea’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Auweiler’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Azur’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Bean’s Broom’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Beissneri’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Beth Mini’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Blue Bear’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Blue Nut’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Blue Spiral’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Compacta’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Compacta Glauca’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Compacta Prostrata’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Conica’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Creamy’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Cvikov’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Day Creek’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Duflon’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Elaine’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Flat Top’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Florin’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Frank’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Glacier’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Glauca’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Glauca Compacta’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Globe’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Globosa’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Gonzaga’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Gore Pass’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Green Globe’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Griz’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Hans Christa’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Heike’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Hexenbesen’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Hurricane Blue’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Jade Sky’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Joe’s Alpine’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Jörg’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Kenwith Blue’   
Abies lasiocarpa ’Kinzle Pass’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Kyles Alpine’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Last Chance’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Little Nellie’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Logan Pass’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Lopalpun’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Lost Joe’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Malík’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Martha’s Vineyard’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Meyer’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Mikolas’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Mulligan’s Dwarf’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Nana’  
Abies lasiocarpa ’Pendula’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Porky’   
Abies lasiocarpa ’Prickly Pete’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Pride’s Select’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Rat’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Rhumpa’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Roger Watson’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Sardoc’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Shaalyn’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Shamrock Sky’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Siskiyou’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Smokejumper’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Sonderfeld’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Stanley K.’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Steven Blue’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Sunderfeld’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Tomas’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Tönisvorst’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Utah’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Vanc Variegata’
Abies lasiocarpa ’Zwergform’

Attribution from: Conifers Garden