Scientific Name
Abies concolor
White fir trees can reach or exceed 100 feet in height and occur in the mountains of California and the Rocky Mountain states, generally at middle elevations, though they can grow almost up to the tree line. The white fir’s flattened needles are around 1½ to 2½ inches long, often blue green and usually curve outward and upward even though they emerge from the twigs in all directions. The needles’ tips are usually rounded, but even when pointy to a degree, they aren’t sharp. The needles remain for five or six years and after being shed, leave small flat circular scars on the twigs (as opposed to leaving tiny pegs as in the case with spruce trees). The 3-to-6-inch seed cones are held upright on the branches, as opposed to pine and spruce cones that hang down or are pressed tightly to the branches. After the seeds are dispersed from the cones, they disintegrate although their central axis may persist for months.
White fir, with its conical form and branches to the ground, is commonly used as an ornamental tree in the cooler states of the east and Midwest. As a mountain tree, it has no problem tolerating very low temperatures, but prolonged summer heat may stress it. Quite a few fir species native to more humid and cloudier climates find Colorado’s dry winter conditions coupled with intense sunshine hard to tolerate, but white fir handles those conditions well. It also tolerates dry sites with poor soil once it’s established. White fir breeds with blue or silver foliage have proven to be especially popular in our region’s landscaping.