Abies procera
Abies bifolia
noble fir
corkbark fir, Rocky Mountain alpine fir, Rocky Mountain subalpine fir
grayish brown, in age becoming thick and deeply furrowed (furrows and ridges about same width) and reddish brown (especially reddish when plates flake off).
gray, thin, smooth, with age somewhat furrowed and scaly (toward southern end of range bark is corky [corkbark fir]).
diverging from trunk at right angles, stiff;
twigs reddish brown, finely pubescent for several years.
diverging from trunk at right angles, stout, stiff;
twigs opposite to whorled, grayish, pubescence sparse, light brown;
fresh leaf scars with light brown periderm.
hidden by leaves, tan, ovoid, small, not resinous, apex rounded;
basal scales short, broad, equilaterally triangular, pubescent centrally, not resinous, margins entire to crenate, apex sharp-pointed.
exposed, brown, globose, small, resinous, apex rounded;
basal scales long, narrow, isosceles triangular to spatulate, glabrous, resinous or not resinous, margins entire to rarely crenate, apex sharp-pointed or rounded.
1–3(–3.5)cm × 1.5–2mm, 1-ranked, flexible, proximal portion often appressed to twig for 2–3mm (best seen on abaxial surface of twig), distal portion divergent;
cross section flat, with prominent raised midrib abaxially, with or without groove adaxially, or cross section 4-sided on fertile branches;
odor pungent, faintly turpentinelike;
abaxial surface with 2–4 glaucous bands, each band with (4–)6–7 stomatal rows;
adaxial surface bluish green, with 0–2 glaucous bands, each band with 0–7 stomatal rows at midleaf;
apex rounded to notched;
leaves on fertile branches 4-sided with 4 bands of stomates below;
resin canals small, near margins and abaxial epidermal layer.
1.1–2.5cm × 1.25–1.5mm, spiraled and turned upward, flexible;
cross section flat, grooved adaxially, sometimes only slightly so;
odor camphorlike;
abaxial surface with 3–5 stomatal rows on each side of midrib;
adaxial surface light green to bluish green, usually glaucous, with 3–6 stomatal rows at midleaf, rows usually continuous to leaf base, usually more numerous toward leaf apex;
apex slightly notched to rounded;
resin canals large, ± median, away from margins and midway between abaxial and adaxial epidermal layers.
at pollination ± purple, ± red, or reddish brown.
at pollination purplish.
cones oblong-cylindric, 10–15 × 5–6.5cm, green, red, or purple, overlaid with green bracts, at maturity brown (bracts light-colored and scales dark), sessile, apex rounded;
scales ca. 2.5 × 3cm, pubescent;
bracts exserted and reflexed over scales.
cones cylindric, 5–10 × 3–3.5cm, dark purple-blue to grayish purple, sessile, apex rounded;
scales ca. 1.5 × 2.5cm, densely pubescent;
bracts included.
=24.
Abies procera
Abies bifolia
See discussion under Abies magnifica.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Abies bifolia has been—and by many workers still is—included in synonymy under A. lasiocarpa or A. subalpina since about 1890, and A. subalpina under A. lasiocarpa since about the 1920s. Abies bifolia is distinct from A. lasiocarpa, however, in chemical tests on wood (H.S. Fraser and E.P. Swan 1972), lack of crystals in the ray parenchyma (R.W. Kennedy et al. 1968), lack of lasiocarpenonol (J.F. Manville and A.S. Tracey 1989), and distinct terpene patterns (R.S. Hunt and E.von Rudloff 1979). Abies bifolia also tends to have slightly shorter and fewer prominently notched leaves than A. lasiocarpa. The two are clearly separated by the color of their periderm and by the shape of their basal bud scales. These firs may be more distinct than the pairs A. balsamea -- A. fraseri and A. procera -- A. magnifica. A north-south transect, however, from south central Yukon to northern Washington yielded introgressed trees possessing characteristics of both A. lasiocarpa and A. bifolia, recalling the interior spruce (Canadian Forestry Service 1983), which has characteristics of both Picea glauca and P. engelmannii. These trees can similarly be called interior subalpine fir, i.e., A. bifolia × lasiocarpa. Both A. lasiocarpa and A. bifolia need comparative morphologic studies.
Isolated southern populations of Abies bifolia may also have unique characteristics. The taxonomy of corkbark fir, treated by some as A. lasiocarpa var. arizonica (Merriam) Lemmon, is uncertain. This taxon should probably be a segregate of A. bifolia, not A. lasiocarpa, a disposition that requires a thorough morphologic and chemical reappraisal, especially since the work of E.Zavarin et al. (1970) suggested that populations south of Wyoming may have unique terpene patterns. In north central Alberta, A. bifolia introgresses with A. balsamea (R.S. Hunt and E.von Rudloff 1974; E.H. Moss 1953).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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