Black and white photo of cones courtesy of USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

• Uses
  • Timber
    • Lumber, boxes and crates, planning mill products, sashes, doors, and general mill work and pulpwood
    • Light weight, easy to work, and relatively free from splitting when nailed
    • Holds nails only moderately well
  • Ornamental
    • White fir makes an excellent Christmas tree for the following reasons
      • has a delightful aroma
      • retains its needles well after cutting
      • has strong sturdy branches that hold their shape.
    • It is highly regarded as an ornamental or specimen tree in colder, moister climates.
  • Wildlife
    • White fir seed is eaten by squirrels and other rodents.
    • Seedlings are often browsed extensively by deer.
    • Porcupines will gnaw the bark, and grouse will feed on the buds and needles.
    • White fir makes good winter roosting trees for grouse.
• Description
  • Abies concolor (Gord. & Glend.) Lindl. ex Hildebr.,
  • White fir is a large forest tree from 60 to 200 feet in height that can live up to 300 years or more.
  • Leaves (needles)
    • 2 to 3 inches long
    • silvery-blue to silvery-green
    • extending at nearly right angles from all sides of the twig or more or less obscurely 2-ranked
    • flattened, stomatiferous above and below
    • rounded or acute at the apex.
  • Cones
    • upright
    • 2 to 5 inches long
    • oblong, olive-green to purple
    • bracts shorter than the scales, with short, broad erose shoulders, and spike like tips
  • Bark is 4 to 7 inches thick on old trunks, ashy gray and divided by deep irregular furrows in thick, horny flattened ridges; young stems with conspicuous resin blisters.
• Adaptation and Distribution
  • White fir is found in areas characterized by a moderately humid climate with long winters and moderate to heavy deposits of snow.
  • It is found principally where precipitation exceeds 20 inches; however, best development is in areas where precipitation is 35 to 75 inches annually.
  • Most white fir is found at elevations of 4,000 to 10,000 feet along the western Sierra Nevada.
  • White fir is distributed primarily throughout the western United States.
• Establishment
  • White fir may be regenerated by natural seeding, direct seeded, or planted.
  • Cones begin to disintegrate and shed seeds in late September or early October
  • There is a good seed crop about every 2 to 5 years.
  • The seed germinates in the spring but usually less than 50 percent of the seed germinate.
  • White fir is generally rated as tolerant to very tolerant of shade so that selective (partial) cutting tends to favor this species.
  • Initial growth rate is usually very slow up to about 30 years, then growth accelerates markedly.
• Management
  • Young trees are easily killed by fire and must be protected from this hazard.
  • White fir Christmas trees require 6 to 9 years to produce a 6 foot tree.

Reference: http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_abco.pdf

USDA, NRCS. 2012. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

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