Burke: Abies procera vs. Abies grandis

	Abies procera	Abies grandis
	noble fir	grand fir
Habit	A tall, symmetrical tree up to 70 m. tall, the branches short, stiff and spreading.	A tall, straight tree up to 90 m. tall.
Bark	Bark readily flaking, grayish-brown, dark reddish-brown beneath.	Bark grayish to light brown, smooth to shallowly ridged; young twigs pubescent.
Leaves	Leaves bluish-green to silvery, 1.5-3 cm. long, thicker in the middle, crowded, stiff and upturned, with two white bands on the lower surface and a single broad band on the upper.	Needles nearly flat, 2-4 cm. long, blunt to notched, spreading horizontally, not concealing the branch, dark green with 2 whitish stripes beneath.
Cones	Staminate cones reddish, pendant and catkin-like, 7-20 mm. long, on the lower side of branches near the middle of the tree or above; ovulate cones only near the top of the tree, single and erect, 11-13 cm. long and up 6 cm. thick, the scales dark reddish-brown, nearly concealed by ruffle-edged, slender-pointed, straw-colored to olive bracts.	Staminate cones yellowish, pendant and catkin-like, 7-20 mm. long, on the lower side of branches near the middle of the tree or above; ovulate cones only near the top of the tree, single and erect, yellowish-green to green, 6-11 cm. long and 3.5-4 cm. thick, the subtending bracts concealed by the scales.

	Abies procera	Abies grandis
Habitat	Deep forests where there is sufficient moisture, moderate to fairly high elevations.	Coniferous forests, from sea level to mid-elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; northern Washington to the Siskiyou Mountains in northern California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Vancouver Island, British Columbia to California, east to Idaho and Montana. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	A. amabilis, A. grandis, A. lasiocarpa	A. amabilis, A. lasiocarpa, A. procera
Web links	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Abies grandis

noble fir

grand fir

Habit

A tall, symmetrical tree up to 70 m. tall, the branches short, stiff and spreading.

A tall, straight tree up to 90 m. tall.

Bark

Bark readily flaking, grayish-brown, dark reddish-brown beneath.

Bark grayish to light brown, smooth to shallowly ridged; young twigs pubescent.

Leaves

Leaves bluish-green to silvery, 1.5-3 cm. long, thicker in the middle, crowded, stiff and upturned, with two white bands on the lower surface and a single broad band on the upper.

Needles nearly flat, 2-4 cm. long, blunt to notched, spreading horizontally, not concealing the branch, dark green with 2 whitish stripes beneath.

Cones

Staminate cones reddish, pendant and catkin-like, 7-20 mm. long, on the lower side of branches near the middle of the tree or above; ovulate cones only near the top of the tree, single and erect, 11-13 cm. long and up 6 cm. thick, the scales dark reddish-brown, nearly concealed by ruffle-edged, slender-pointed, straw-colored to olive bracts.

Staminate cones yellowish, pendant and catkin-like, 7-20 mm. long, on the lower side of branches near the middle of the tree or above; ovulate cones only near the top of the tree, single and erect, yellowish-green to green, 6-11 cm. long and 3.5-4 cm. thick, the subtending bracts concealed by the scales.