Subalpine or Alpine Fir
Abies lasiocarpa
Pinaceae (Pine Family)
 
  Leaves: Needles borne singly; 1" to 1-1/2" long; flattened in cross-section; evergreen; bluish-green.

Twigs/buds: Twigs similar to white fir. Buds orange-brown.

Flowers/fruit: Fruit a cone; 2" to 4" long; oblong; green to purple; borne upright on upper branches; scales deciduous.

Bark: Thin; smooth; gray; with resinous blisters; becoming shallowly furrowed on older trunks.

Wood: Moderate importance; similar to white fir.

General: Native to fairly high elevation, cool, moist sites from the southern Rockies to northwestern Canada, including Utah. Many native trees in Utah are dying due to insects, disease, drought, and old-age. Shade tolerant.

Landscape Use: Very narrow, spire-like crown, often with many leaders. Seldom, if ever, planted in Utah's valleys and may would not do well with heat or dry conditions. Native trees are sensitive to construction damage when present on building sites. Zones 1-5.

 

Range map from Digital Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Utah

 
   
                 
 
 
 
Leaves
Cones
Crown
Landscape
 
                 
 
 
 
Bark
 
 

 

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Updated 8/15/2002