Abies procera |
Abies concolor |
|
---|---|---|
noble fir |
pino real blanco, Rocky Mountain white fir, white fir |
|
Habit | Trees to 80m; trunk to 2.2m diam.; crown spirelike. | Trees to 40m; trunk to 0.9m diam.; crown spirelike. |
Bark | 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 thickening (to 18cm) and breaking into deep longitudinal furrows, often revealing yellowish inner periderm, appearing "corky." Branches diverging from trunk at right angles, the lower often spreading and drooping in age; twigs mostly opposite, glabrous or with yellowish pubescence. |
Branches | diverging from trunk at right angles, stiff; twigs reddish brown, finely pubescent for several years. |
|
Buds | 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, either yellowish and nearly conic (when large) or brownish and nearly globose (when small), resinous, apex rounded to pointed; basal scales equilaterally triangular, glabrous, not resinous, margins entire, apex sharp-pointed. |
Leaves | 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. |
1.5–6cm × 2–3mm, mostly 2-ranked, flexible, proximal portion ±straight; cross section flat, sometimes slightly grooved adaxially; odor pungent, frequently camphorlike; abaxial surface glaucous, with 4–7 stomatal rows on each side of midrib; adaxial surface grayish green, glaucous, with (7–)12(–18) stomatal rows at midleaf, these usually fewer toward leaf apex; apex usually rounded, sometimes acute or notched; resin canals small, near margins and abaxial epidermal layer. |
Pollen cones | at pollination ± purple, ± red, or reddish brown. |
at pollination ± red, purple, or ± green. |
Seed(s) | 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, 7–12 × 3–4.5cm, olive-green, sessile, apex round; scales ca. 2.5–3 × 3–3.5cm, pubescent; bracts included. |
2n | =24. |
=24. |
Abies procera |
Abies concolor |
|
Habitat | Mixed coniferous forests | Coniferous forests |
Elevation | 60–2700m (200–8900ft) | 1700–3400m (5600–11200ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA
|
AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; UT; Mexico in Baja California; Sonora
|
Discussion | See discussion under Abies magnifica. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Abies concolor is a western catchall species for firs with green seed cones and with glaucous adaxial leaf surfaces. Many of these populations have long been isolated geographically and genetically. A geographic cluster of populations in Utah has shorter leaves and slightly different terpene patterns than a similar cluster of populations in Colorado and northern New Mexico (J.W. Wright et al. 1971; E.Zavarin et al. 1975). Another large geographic cluster, in southern New Mexico and Arizona, seems to be strongly linked chemically to Colorado populations (E.Zavarin et al. 1975) and morphologically to southern California populations (J.L. Hamrick and W.J. Libby 1972). Northern California populations with pubescent twigs and notched leaves are unique, as are the Baja California populations with very short, thick leaves and about 18 adaxial stomatal rows. In Los Padres National Forest of coastal southern California and in the Cascades of northern California, apparent introgression with A. lowiana (E.Zavarin et al. 1975; J.L. Hamrick and W.J. Libby 1972) has occurred. Many consider A. lowiana (given specific rank in this treatment) as a synonym of A. concolor or place it in an infraspecific rank under that species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 2. | FNA vol. 2. |
Parent taxa | Pinaceae > Abies | Pinaceae > Abies |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. nobilis | Picea concolor |
Name authority | Rehder: Rhodora 42: 522. (1940) | (Gordon & Glendinning) Hildebrand: Verh. Naturhist. Vereines Preuss. Rheinl. Westphalens 18: 261. (1861) |
Web links |
|